Yugioh: Heritage of Nightmares
by Fallen Senshi
Summary: The sequel to Island of Nightmares. Jason and Yugi thought that they could relax after the Victory Island tournament. But when an evil spirit from the past returns to engulf all of humanity in the shadows, it's up to Jason and Yugi to stop it at all costs
1. Duel of Arrogance

Hello, again, everyone. Because I was bored, I have decided to write a sequel for Island of Nightmares. You could read this without reading my first fic, but then you won't know what's going on, so I'd suggest reading the first one first. Well, enjoy!

**Episode 1: Duel of Arrogance - Defeat the Champion!**

It was a hot summer day, but a cool breeze blew through the open window, bringing with it relief from the heat. Jason sat at the desk in front of the window and went through his dueling deck. A month had passed since the whole Victory Island incident. Using some of the prize money from the Tournament, Jason put his ailing mother in rehab, and moved in with his Aunt Cecilia, who lived in Domino City. Due to his financial windfall, she makes Jason pay rent, so some of his money goes to that as well. He used the rest of the money on clothes and cards for his deck.

"That should make for a winning deck if I do say so myself," Jason said after he finished. "This deck would even give Yugi a run for his money." He started to daydream about winning tournaments all across the country and becoming the best duelist in the world. A sharp ring broke Jason's thoughts. He walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey Jason. It's me, Akira," came the laidback voice from the other end of the receiver.

Jason brightened up after hearing the voice of his long time friend on the other end of the phone. "Oh, hey Akira. What's up?"

"I just heard that they have a new shipment of cards at the Duel Station in town. Do you want to go? They might have that Mirror Force that you were looking for."

"Sure. I'll meet you there."

"Okay. See you there."

There was a click at the other end and Jason placed the headset back in its resting place. He grabbed his deck and walked over to the mirror, where he combed his short blonde hair back. Then, he slipped on a red shirt and started to walk out the door when something hanging from the mirror caught his eye.

"Hmm. Should I wear this? I could always pass it off as a piece of normal jewelry if any questions should happen to be asked. So I guess I will wear it."

Jason picked up the object and looked at it. A large gold triangle rested inside a gold ring. Hanging from the ring were five smaller triangles that were also gold. A decorative eye stared back at Jason from inside the pyramid.

"I still can't believe that I have a Millennium Item. Oh well. It looks better on me than it did on that Bakura kid, anyway."

Jason slipped the Item over his head and looked in the mirror. Suddenly, he whirled around and looked out the window. The only thing that greeted him was a view of the neighbors' houses.

"I must be losing my mind. I could've sworn that I saw…that Bakura kid outside my window."

Jason stared at the window for a second before shrugging and going out the door to his room. He went down the steps and saw his aunt sitting on the couch, watching her soaps as usual. "Hey, Aunt C.C., I'm going out to meet my friend," Jason said as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Just be back by eight," she responded in a somewhat distracted tone.

Jason walked out of the door and headed for the city. The Duel Station was the hottest place for duelists to go in Domino, especially since they just installed the new Kaiba Corp. Duel Fields. Their card sales shot through the roof and ever since then, the company expanded. Jason went there all the time, but he never dueled there because the crowds were far too big.

'I wonder if Akira will be looking for cards, too. If so, I hope I can afford them. I don't like to take a lot of money to these places considering the shady individuals who lurk around.'

Jason finally reached the Duel Station, and he spotted Akira outside. He wore a plain white shirt with long baggy jeans and white sneakers, the usual summer fashion. His hair was a slicked back mane of black, and a faint mustache lined his upper lip. He waved at Jason.

"So, I guess you need to go card hunting, too, huh?" Jason said when he got to Akira.

"Sort of. I need a few more Monsters to complete my deck. Then, it'll be ready for anything or anyone who comes for a challenge."

Akira ran a standard Beast deck for the most part, but there were a few cards of his own in it that made him stand out. He never liked going along with what everyone else did. The two walked into the bustling store and the sound of a crowd echoed throughout the area. Occasional cash register rings cut through the noise, almost as a reminder of the money the place was taking in. Jason looked down at the glass case full of rare cards.

"There it is," he said, pointing to the Mirror Force. "75 dollars, huh? When I last came in here, it was only 40 dollars." Jason looked at the other cards and spotted the Dark Magician. "115 dollars! How did that happen?"

Akira walked up behind Jason after hearing his sudden outburst and leaned in to look at the Dark Magician. "Do you remember that huge Battle City Tournament that Kaiba threw a little while back?" he asked.

Jason looked at Akira with a puzzled look. At that time, you couldn't be called a duelist if you never heard of Battle City. "Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"Well, ever since Yugi Moto won it, everyone has been clamoring for the cards that he uses in his deck. Since demand skyrocketed, so have the prices," Akira explained calmly.

"Oh. That makes sense. And it explains Mirror Force's rise," Jason said as he looked at a few of the other cards he remembered Yugi using. 'I wonder what Yugi and the Pharaoh are doing now.'

Jason went back to the Mirror Force he had his eye on. He motioned to a saleswoman. "Excuse me, miss. I'll take the Mirror Force over there," Jason said proudly.

The woman walked over to the card, bent over and reached out, only to be grabbed another salesperson's hand. She looked up to see a man who worked at the store going for the same card.

"What's going on here?" a boy asked. The boy was about Jason's age. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore dark sunglasses over his face, a sleeveless black shirt under a dark blue jacket draped over his shoulders, and leather pants that came down to his black boots. He looked over at Jason with a look of disgust mixed with pity. "I see. Boy, stand aside. This card is mine."

"Who the hell are you calling 'boy'?" Jason retorted, looking the strange person up and down.

"Why, you, of course. You stand in the presence of Malachi Jackson," the boy said, as if he were speaking the name of God himself.

The other people around the store froze and murmured among themselves about the situation starting to develop. Jason crossed his arms and snorted. "And that is supposed to impress and/or frighten me because?" Jason said.

"I am this store's champion, and have been for nine months running." Malachi turned his back on Jason. "Never mind him," Malachi said to the store clerk. "His ignorance knows no bounds. I'll take that Mirror Force now."

"Excuse me! _I'll_ take that Mirror Force. And I'll pay you 20 dollarsmore than the original price," Jason exclaimed, pulling out his cash.

"I'll pay 30dollarsmore," Malachi answered, pulling out his own wad of cash.

"How about 50 dollarsmore?" Jason replied.

"80 dollars more," Malachi responded calmly.

Jason clenched his fists and shouted out, "100 dollars more than the original price!"

Akira quickly pulled Jason to the side. "Yugi Moto's Mirror Force isn't worth 140 dollars!" he whispered harshly.

"It's the principle of the matter," Jason replied. "I don't let wimps step on me or my transactions."

Malachi looked at the roll of cash he pulled out of his pocket earlier. "Oh well, 100 is a lot, but I suppose it's not more than 200 dollars," Malachi said triumphantly.

"Damn! I only brought 200 dollars," Jason said defeatedly.

"Aw too bad. Looks like I win," Malachi said as he took the Mirror Force from the store clerk's hand.

He walked up to the front counter and paid the money. Jason walked up to him with his fists clenched. "You know that Mirror Force belongs to me. My salesperson had her hand on it first," he hissed.

"Yes, but who has their hands on it now?" Malachi said, tauntingly waving the card in Jason's face.

Jason's rage boiled over. "That is IT! You and I are going to duel for that Mirror Force!"

The whole store stopped on the word 'duel'. Malachi looked at Jason, then, laughed in an insolent, haughty tone. Some of the people in the store laughed with him.

"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? I'm the store champ and have been for…"

"I heard you the first time, jackass," Jason said, cutting him off. "Now you hear me. Neither you nor your little title intimidates me, because you're not the only one who has a title under his belt."

Malachi raised an eyebrow in feigned interest. "Oh my. And who are you to be so high and mighty, not that I care who you are."

"I am Jason Garnet, co-winner of the Victory Island Tournament."

Some of the people in the crowd gasped and murmured his name. "So what? I don't care if you're Seto Kaiba. I'm still going to beat you."

"Then let's dance, punk," Jason said harshly.

The two walked back to the duel area, followed by about thirty people chanting 'duel, duel, duel' over and over. When they reached the area, Jason immediately spotted an empty Duel Field. "Over there," he said to Malachi, pointing at the area.

The two walked over to the field and got on the opposite platforms. The two platforms rose and extended until they were touching each other.

"This duel will be played by Battle City rules. Got that?" Malachi said as he handed his deck to Jason.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever satisfies your penchant for humiliation," Jason replied as he handed his deck to Malachi.

The two shuffled and cut each other's decks. Jason handed Malachi his deck back. Malachi reached out with Jason's deck, but before Jason could take it, Malachi spit on the back of the top card, resulting in a few laughs and some of those 'ooh's that you heard on day time talk shows.

"Oops. I hope it wasn't a rare card," Malachi said, dripping with sarcasm.

He laughed as the duel platforms retracted, taking away Jason's only chance to beat Malachi half to death. "If it was a rare card, I'll knock your teeth so far down your throat, you'll be chewing with your ass!" Jason bellowed. He turned the card over. 'It's only a Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800/800). I can duel without it,' Jason thought.

He wiped the card off with his shirt and placed it in his pants pocket.

"Now let's duel!" the two shouted.

(Jason: 4000) (Malachi: 4000)

"We'll decide who goes first by flipping a coin," Malachi said, pulling a coin out of his pocket. "I call tails," he added quickly.

He flipped the coin. Jason looked at it as it rotated through the air.

'Hmm. So that's your game, huh? It looks like some Millennium magic is needed here.'

Jason tapped into the power of the Ring and caused the coin to land on heads. Malachi looked surprised, but nonetheless allowed Jason to go first. He drew his six cards.

"I'll set four cards face down and summon Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000) in attack mode." Four of the back five spaces on the field were covered by face down holograms and a large, red gorilla appeared on the field. It roared and breathed fire up toward the ceiling. "Your go, punk."

Malachi pulled the top card from his deck as if though he were taking a stroll through the park. "Fine. I'll activate Heavy storm, to destroy your face down cards."

A giant twister rampaged towards the brown backed holograms on Jason's side of the field. "That's not going to happen. Activate Magic Jammer! I think you know what this card does, but let me remind you. I discard a card and negate your spell card," Jason said. "And I'll get rid of my Pot of Greed."

The twister died before it reached Jason's set cards. "Alright. I'll set a card face down and activate Dian Keto the Cure Master to boost my life points by 1000.

(Jason: 4000) (Malachi: 5000)

"Next, I'll summon Gilasaurus (1400/400) in attack mode." A small, brown dinosaur appeared on the field and let out a meek roar. "I'll also activate Last Will and sacrifice Gilasaurus to summon Catapult Turtle (1000/2000) in attack mode."

The dinosaur disappeared and a large turtle with a long track on its back appeared in its place.

"I'm guessing you chose to use Gilasaurus' effect and special summon him," Jason said.

"Of course. In exchange, you get to revive one monster from your graveyard. But you have no monsters in your graveyard, now do you?" Malachi laughed, then, continued. "Now, I'll use the effect of my Last Will card, which allows me to get a monster from my deck and summon it when a monster on my side of the field is sent to the graveyard."

"A monster with an attack of 1500 or less," Jason said.

"I know that! But it doesn't matter because this is where I end you. I'll summon the Magical Scientist (300/300) in defense mode!"

A small man with fading purple hair in a lab coat appeared on the field. A transparent laptop materialized at his fingertips. The monster pressed a few keys and several large vials rose out of the field. There were monsters inside the vials.

"My scientist allows me to pay 1000 life points and special summon a monster from my fusion deck with six level stars or less. Then I can launch it with Catapult Turtle and do direct damage to your life points."

"What's your point?" Jason asked, obviously unimpressed and somewhat disgusted by Malachi's choice of strategy.

"You idiot. It means if I can summon four monsters whose attack strength is over 2000 and launch them, you'll lose all your life points, and the duel!"

The crowd 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed at Malachi's move, certain that he was the victor. Jason simply laughed. "What do you take me for, some kind of an idiot? Activate trap card, Stealth Assault! This card allows me to attack one of your monsters even if it's your turn."

"Oh well. My Scientist is in defense mode, so you won't get any life point damage." 'Plus, I have something to bring him back.'

"Who said I was going for your Scientist? My target is the Catapult Turtle you foolishly left in attack mode. Berserk Gorilla, attack the Catapult Turtle!"

The ape blasted Malachi's monster with an intense flame, incinerating it on contact.

(Jason: 4000) (Malachi: 4000)

"That's the dumbest thing I've seen all week. I can still summon monsters with my Scientist. So here it goes. I give up 2000 of my life points to summon Dark Balter the Terrible (2000/1200) and Dark Flare Knight (2200/800)!"

Two of the vials of the field shattered and out of them stepped a possessed demon warrior and a knight in black armor wielding a long red sword.

(Jason: 4000) (Malachi: 2000)

"Now, Dark Flare Knight, attack the Berserk Gorilla!"

The knight rushed at Jason's monster and raised its blade. Jason responded with another well-placed face down card.

"I'll activate the magic card Shrink. It automatically reduces one monster's attack points by half," Jason said as he turned the card over. "But I'll use it on my Gorilla instead of your monster," he added.

The ape's size reduced by half, along with its attack points. Some of the people in the crowd laughed and exchanged remarks, while a few duelists looked at Jason in deep thought, trying to discover his strategy. The Dark Flare Knight swung its sword, slashing through the weakened Berserk Gorilla (1000/1000) and putting a nice dent in Jason's life points.

(Jason: 2800) (Malachi: 2000)

Malachi laughed harder than ever. After wiping the tears out of his eyes he spoke up. "I take back what I said earlier. _That _was the dumbest thing I've seen all week! You are the biggest idiot that I have ever…"

Malachi cut his sentence short when Jason's final face down card flipped up and stared him in the face like the barrel of a smoking gun. His mouth dropped and words completely failed him as Jason spoke those two words that Malachi hadn't heard anyone say to him in ages.

"I win."

(Jason: 2800) (Malachi: 0)

A girl looked at the card hologram and didn't recognize it at first. She tugged on her brother's shirt. "Hey bro. What happened? What card did that guy activate?"

"He activated Sacrificial Payback. It's a very rare trap card that activates when a monster with 1500 attack or less is sent to the graveyard as a result of battle. He can do direct damage to his opponent equal to the attack power of the destroyed monster."

"But didn't he use Shrink on that monster? Shouldn't he have only done 1000 points of damage?"

"Sacrificial Payback goes by the original attack power, not the current attack power. So even though his Berserk Gorilla only had 1000 attack points, its original attack of 2000 was deducted from Malachi's life points. An ingenious strategy coming from an unorthodox duelist. I'd like to face him one day."

The two walked out of the room as the two duel platforms came together again. Jason relished the look on Malachi's face. He began sniffing the air.

"What's that? Do you smell that? It…it smells like…the stench of defeat. And, damn, do you ever reek of it!"

"Just take the Mirror Force and leave me alone," Malachi said darkly as he handed Jason the Mirror Force.

"Oh I'm rubbing this in, because it's your fault that you lost."

Malachi looked at Jason with confusion in his eyes. Jason sighed and drew out every word of his speech as if he were reciting scripture.

"If you hadn't spit on my Kycoo, I would've drawn it and not Stealth Assault. You would've won were it not for your ignorance. Oh, and I'm not just taking the Mirror Force. This was a Battle City style duel, which means I get your rarest card, too."

"Oh, fine! Here, take your pick," Malachi said as he handed Jason his deck.

Jason went through the cards, then, stopped. "You run a one-turn-kill Magical Scientist deck. It's pretty easy to get the Scientist out first turn, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever! Just pick a card!" Malachi said harshly.

"I'm not done. Scientist decks are fairly easy to counter, especially in this environment. So how did you stay on top for so long with the same deck? I'll tell you how: you're a cheater!"

The crowd gasped at Jason's accusation. Malachi looked at him with a new fire in his eyes. "Look, you already beat me! Why are you trying to destroy my reputation with these lies?"

"They're not lies. I noticed it when you flipped the coin. It flipped a little lop-sided. That's when I realized what was going on. You were using a weighted coin. I've used these a few times." Jason picked up the coin and examined it closely. "Yeah, just as I thought. I thought that it was weird that you called tails so quickly. If you look closely, you'll see that this coin is thicker than usual. That's because there is a small weight on one side on the inside. So no matter how you flip it, the coin lands on tails. That way, you always go first and get your Scientist combo out before anyone can counter." Jason flipped the coin and, just as he predicted, it landed on tails. "Tails, you lose."

The store manager, who happened to watch the duel from the back, spoke up. "Since you used this illegal coin more than once, I'm afraid I have to strip you of your title as store champion and banish you from this store indefinitely. Jason, since you beat him, I declare you the new store champion."

The crowd cheered as Malachi slumped down in defeat. He looked up at Jason weakly. "Can I have my deck back, now?" he asked timidly, as if someone had ripped out his very soul.

"I haven't chosen yet. I think I'll take your precious Magical Scientist. As trade bait, of course. Now you can have your deck back…if you can find it!"

With that Jason threw the cards into the crowd. They rained down like confetti and the people grabbed them up quickly. "No! It took me six months to complete that deck!" he shrieked.

The two duel platforms separated and Jason jumped down. Akira walked up to him. "You had to break him in every way possible, didn't you?" he asked.

"First of all, he shouldn't have used that trick coin. Second, he shouldn't been a jackass. And, third, and above all else, the bastard shouldn't have spit on my card."

Jason looked out into the crowd and jumped back.

"Jason, what's the matter with you?" Akira asked as he placed a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"It's nothing. Let's go." Jason walked through the crowd, who was still clamoring for what was left of Malachi's deck. 'Now I know I'm losing my mind. I definitely saw that Bakura kid.'  
-

Well, that's the first chapter. It was more of a practice chapter, to get my writing skills back, and had no real relevance to the coming story. But next chapter will be better.


	2. Visions of the Past

**Episode 2: Visions of the Past - Shocking Pharaoh's Secrets!**

Jason sat on the edge of the bed, looking at his newly won cards. He thought about adding the scientist to his deck, along with some good fusions, but he figured that might be overkill. "I guess you'll just have to settle for trade bait, my little friend," he said as he slipped the card into a sleeve and tossed it onto the dresser next to the Millennium Ring.

Jason looked down at the floor. The day was a crazy one and he deserved a good night's rest. He crawled into the bed and pulled the covers over his head. Jason closed his eyes and felt sleep pour over him. That's when the dreams started.

* * *

Jason was falling into a pit of an empty, black nothingness. Suddenly, there was a bright flash and an image appeared before Jason. He was in the middle of a small town in Egypt. A little boy was crouched under a table in a marketplace. He trembled as heavily armed soldiers ran by the table.

"The pharaoh needs as many sacrifices as we can get. Take the strongest ones that you can find and kill the others," one of the soldiers commanded in a gruff voice.

The other soldiers gave a salute, and ran off in separate directions. They ransacked homes and destroyed property. Men, women and children alike were taken away. Some people fought back, but were quickly and mercilessly slaughtered like cattle. After the soldiers were done with their twisted deeds, they torched the whole village. The boy under the table managed to get away at the last moment before he was burned to death. That's where the image stopped.

'Wow. That was intense. What did it mean? Why am I here?' Jason thought. The blonde looked around at his surroundings, but saw nothing but darkness. It was as if his eyes were closed and he couldn't open them.

Jason didn't have much time to think before another image appeared. The boy was face down in the burning sands of the Sahara Dessert as a caravan approached. The men stopped and picked up the boy, placed him on the back of a camel, and rode off to the east. That image ended and was soon replaced by one of the boy sitting in a bed, in front of a man dressed in elegant green robes with gold trim. He held a long staff with a cobra at the head.

"My followers found you in the desert. Do you remember how you got there?" the man asked. He leaned in closer to the boy, who seemed to not care about the man's presence, or how close he was. The boy simply shook his head, letting his long silver hair fall over his shoulders as he did so. "Do you know your name?"

The boy looked down at the bed, then, back up at the man. "It's…Seti," he said uneasily.

"Do you have a last name?"

"Yes. My last name is Bakura," the boy replied.

A feeling like a lightning bolt struck Jason as he heard that name. 'Bakura! You've got to be kidding me. This must be his ancestor,' Jason thought.

The image ended there. More quick images flashed before Jason. Most of them were of strange ceremonial practices, such as sacrificing goats and performing strange magic. It seemed that the man was training Seti. In each of the images, Seti got older, until he resembled his usual teenage self, except for the silver hair, dark skin, and long jagged scar over his left eye from a fight with a bandit. Then, the images ended again.

"I'm just guessing, but I think this is the story of how that evil Bakura came to be. If so, then maybe I should sit back and watch," Jason said. He reclined and found that he was actually floating in the air, if it could be called that.

Through the images, however, Jason forgot that he was actually falling…until he hit the floor, that is. There was no pain, but he felt a strange sensation in his head. Jason looked up and saw the man again. This time he was dressed in a simple beige tunic as he stood in chains before the pharaoh. Jason couldn't make out the pharaoh's face in the dark chamber.

"Salazar Midus, you stand before the royal court accused of sorcery and high treason, the worst crimes there are," the pharaoh said with a deep, officious voice.

'His voice sounds familiar, like I've met this guy before,' Jason thought as the pharaoh continued.

"I have no guilt. I shall be pharaoh," Salazar said, cutting off the pharaoh's speech. "In this lifetime, or the next, I will rule! You cannot stop me, Atem. No one can!"

The large gleaming object that hung from around the pharaoh's neck that Jason assumed was jewelry glowed brightly, highlighting the pharaoh's face in a golden aura. His amethyst eyes picked up the glow, creating an eerie orange-like color. His features were harsh and stoic, yet somewhat arrogant as he stood on the stone platform.

"You've got to be kidding me. Yugi? Well this is a fine kettle of fish," Jason said. 'So his real name is Atem, huh? He's going to be delighted to hear that.'

"For your heinous crimes, you will be punished, but not before your loyal followers. They shall be mummified alive, and you shall be made to watch, so that you may carry the guilt of their suffering with you to the underworld," Atem said.

And so it went. Salazar stood by as embalmers in jackal masks began their work on all thirteen of his followers. He was forced to watch as the red-hot pokers were shoved up their nostrils, used to carve their brains into pieces before removal. Salazar tried to look away, but his jackal-headed captors would turn his face back toward the screaming, the pain, and the insanity.

'Just because he has to watch, doesn't mean I have to as well,' Jason thought as he turned away. He was used to watching horror movies and junk like that on television, but he never thought that it was so gory in real life.

The torment went on for hours until all thirteen of the men were on the floor, wriggling and writhing inside their bandages like a caterpillar trying to escape from its cocoon. Their brains extracted; was this a reflex action, or could they still feel the horrifying agony? This question drove Salazar mad with torment; a pain he thought could not be rivaled. That is until the embalmers opened his mouth and cut out his tongue. He found that it was really not impossible to scream without a tongue. Difficult, but not impossible. His captors held his head forward so he wouldn't drown in his own blood. As the pain tore through his face, Atem entered and spoke.

"Salazar, this shall be your punishment. You are to be castrated with your ears sliced off, your eyes sewn shut, and the rest of you mummified."

Salazar screamed again, presumably curses at the pharaoh. The punishments were carried out, and, like his followers, Salazar was wrapped in moist bandages from head to toe. Holes were cut for the nose and mouth. The embalmers then picked him up like an object to be moved out of the way and placed him in a simple wooden coffin, which was then placed in a granite sarcophagus. Salazar lay in the coffin, unable to see, unable to hear, and waiting for the release of sweet death. But that's not what came next. What did come next was a strange feeling that something was on him. Something alive. He felt the movement, and the skittering across his body. Then, he felt it burrow into him, deeper and deeper. That's when the realization hit him. They covered him in scarabs. He could feel the cursed bugs moving through his skin, up to his head, eating him from the inside out. The heavy lid was placed over the sarcophagus and sealed with nails.

"Well, that was some brutal stuff," Jason said. "I didn't think that the pharaoh had something like that in him, but now I can see that I was dead wrong."

He looked over and spotted Seti hiding in one corner of the room. The dark haired teen had watched the entire event. His face streaked with tears of rage, Seti disappeared into the shadows. The image faded and Jason found himself standing alone in a dark stone chamber. But not for long. A new image appeared; one of Seti Bakura reading through the ancient books in a room lit only by several candles.

Jason could barely hear his mumbling as Seti read through the book. "Don't worry master. I will take your revenge and inflict it upon the pharaoh like a thousand curses. And I shall use his sacred items to do it. Then, I shall be pharaoh and rule by your very own designs. This I swear by the sands of Egypt."

Seti closed the book and a wind whooshed through the room, extinguishing the flames of the candles and leaving Jason in darkness again. Then, another candle was lit. Jason was in another chamber. This time, a high priest stood guard over something. Jason looked to see what it was. It was the Millennium Ring. "I don't believe it. I was right. This really is the history of Bakura's dark side."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the room. Seti entered, hovering just inches off of the ground. He wore a long white robe generally worn by high priests and wizards, and his usually straight silver hair now spiked out and fluttered around his head. Seti spoke in a gruff tone. "In the name of Salazar Midus, I shall claim this Item and all of its powers."

The high priest raised his staff and prepared to defend himself. Bakura chanted some words and the staff transformed into a cobra. The poisonous snake snapped at the priest, but he threw it at Seti, who immediately turned it back into a staff. The priest countered with a spell to restrain Seti, but the thief broke it easily. The battle went on back and forth until the priest found himself backed into a corner.

"You shall not stop me. I shall rule supreme!" Seti screamed out as he pulled a dagger out from under his cloak. It was a long crooked dagger with a gold snake wrapped around the hilt and handle. "Die like a dog, you filthy mortal!" He raised the blade, ready for the deathblow, and the priest chanted one more incantation. The Millennium Ring glowed brightly and Seti Bakura found himself being drawn towards its power. "No! I will not be defeated by such a foolish thing!" he bellowed as he was dragged towards the glowing item.

As Seti flew towards the Ring, he grabbed a portion of the priest's spirit. "I'm not going alone!" Seti screamed as he dragged the transparent form of the high priest into the Ring.

The Item stopped glowing and all was quiet. The priest fell to the floor, chanted one more thing, and completely disappeared, leaving Jason alone in the room. He walked over to the Millennium Ring. Distant chanting filled Jason's ears. It was in Egyptian, but for some reason, Jason could understand it.

_So it was. The sacred Item was passed down from generation to generation. And all those who came in contact with it suffered the curse known only as Yami. And with this curse came great destruction and chaos. This Yami vowed to rule all of existence and destroy the pharaoh who cursed him to this being. And so it was written.

* * *

Jason snapped up with a quick jerk and found himself back in his room, drenched in sweat. He looked over at the alarm clock. The bright red display read 3:47. Jason reached over to turn on the light, but felt cold metal up against his chest. "What is this?" he asked as he turned on the lamp._

The sight that met him was one straight out of a horror movie. The Millennium Ring hung from around his neck, and he discovered that it wasn't just sweat that he was drenched in. Blood was everywhere. On his chest, on his sheets, but more importantly, on the crooked dagger that lay in bed next to him.  
...

Well, that's episode two. For those who don't know, scarabs are beetles that dig into and under your flesh, then, feed off of the living tissue within. Considering that all your organs are made of tissue, it's pretty painful. I'll have episode three up real soon. Please review!


	3. The Return of the Darkness

**Episode 3: The Return of Darkness! Evil Spirit Rises**

Jason held back the urge to scream out. He had never seen so much blood in one place, especially on him. Jason quickly got out of the crimson-stained bed and looked at the dagger. "It's the same dagger from that dream. What happened here?"

_"What do you think happened?"_ came a dark voice from somewhere around Jason.

The blonde looked around his room, but spotted no one else standing there with him, though he could definitely sense someone else's presence. "Who are you?"

_"That's a stupid question to ask. But if you want the answer, just follow the chill running down your spine."_

Jason looked at the blood, then, panicked again, not thinking about the strange voice or what it told him to do. "Oh crap! I hope my aunt didn't see all of this."

_"If she's still alive that is,"_ came the twisted reply from the seemingly invisible stranger.

Jason immediately ran out of the room and down the hall to his aunt's room. He opened the door and found her sound asleep in the bed. _"I didn't say that she's dead, now did I?"_

Jason ran into the bathroom and shut the door. He walked over to the sink and turned on the water. Jason looked up into the mirror and stumbled back at the disturbing sight that met him. Seti Bakura stared back at Jason from the reflection in the mirror. He was dressed in the same jeans as Jason and his silver hair was matted down with blood, along with the same parts of his body as Jason. The bloody Millennium Ring hung from his neck, glowing slightly. A twisted smile spread across his face.

_"I bet you thought you would never see me again, didn't you? Well, life is just full of disappointments, isn't it?"_

"How did you get here? You moved on to the afterlife. I saw it!" Jason exclaimed. He quickly covered his mouth, hoping that he didn't wake up his aunt with his outburst. The last thing she needed to see was her blood spattered nephew talking to himself in the middle of the night.

Seti chuckled and closed his eyes. _"It was all an illusion. I manipulated a portion of an old priest's spirit to fool you into thinking that it was all over when it wasn't."_

Jason narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. He knew that he couldn't fight the spirit, but he wasn't about to let it have its way. "What do you want from me!" Seti didn't answer him. Instead, he smirked and disappeared from the mirror. "Get back here! I asked you a question!"

But Jason only found himself yelling at his reflection. He grimaced and went to work scrubbing the blood off of his skin. Most of it was fresh and still wet, but the majority of it was dried. He washed off most of the mess, then headed downstairs to get some trash bags. After gathering the bags, Jason went back upstairs and yanked off the Millennium Ring, tossing it onto the dresser.

"I'll deal with you later," he said as if though Seti could hear him through the Item. Jason took the sheets off of the bed, balled them up, and put them in the bag along with his jeans and pillowcases. Then, he picked up the strange dagger. "I can't put this in the bag, or it could cut holes into it. I guess I'll dispose of it somewhere else in the morning."

Jason put on a fresh pair of pants, then, ran downstairs with the bag and went outside, where he dropped the bag on the curb in front of the neighbor's house. The cool night air felt relaxing against Jason's bare chest, which was still moist from the washing. But no matter how relaxed he could get, the fact still remained painfully clear.

There was a murderer in his body.

* * *

Jason sat on the edge of the bed. The urge to sleep had completely left him since it didn't take him too long to figure out the truth. _'Seti can control my body when I'm not awake.'_

He glanced over at the clock. It read 6:39. Jason decided to get some fresh air. He needed it after the events of last night. Jason put on a black shirt and some sneakers, grabbed his deck, and went downstairs. He decided to go to the park. There were usually some duelists around there. They were losers who had nothing better to do with their lives but to play this game, but they were duelists nonetheless. He started for the door.

_"You aren't going to go without leaving your dear aunt a note, are you? She could've died last night, you know. Hahaha!"_

Jason reached up and grabbed his head and anger, then yelled out, hoping that his aunt wouldn't hear him. "Shut up and get out of my head right now, you bastard! I'm sick of you!"

Jason realized that the spirit, although evil, was right. He had to leave her a note telling her where he was. He wrote out the note and left the house. Jason only walked a few blocks before he felt it again. The cold metal was pressed up against chest. He lifted his shirt and found the Millennium Ring around his neck again. _"You can't get rid of me that easily, mortal."_

Jason pulled his shirt back down and kept walking. After a few more blocks he spotted a lot of police cars and ambulances. People were crowded all around the scene. They were mostly in their robes and nightgowns, having just woken up. Jason walked up and tapped on a man's shoulder. "Excuse me. What's going on here?"

The tall man looked back at Jason. "The whole family here was killed, I think. Gruesome deaths at that."

Jason's heart skipped a beat. He made his way through the crowd, trying to get a good look at the victims. When he got to the front of the crowd, he caught a glimpse of the people being loaded into the ambulance. Blood was all over them. All except for one boy, who seemed perfectly unharmed. _"I see they're enjoying my handiwork."_

Jason's heart completely stopped this time. His worst fear had come to be. These were the people that were murdered. He was almost afraid to ask, but he gathered his nerve and spoke up in his mind. _'And the boy?'_

The dark chuckled that came after his question was chilling, but the answer he got was downright sickening. _"Shadow Realm."_

Jason immediately ran from the scene. He feared that the cops would somehow find out that he killed those people. He ran around the corner and sank to his knees on the cold concrete. _'Why did you have to kill those people in my body? Couldn't you have done it in someone else?'_

No answer came. Jason got up and continued on towards the park, ignoring everything that happened. There was no way that he was in the current situation. It all had to be a dream. Jason decided to simply shrug it all off and get rid of the Millennium Ring. Or better yet, destroy the Ring.

"I'm getting rid of you once and for all," he muttered as he continued to walk. His mind was set on finding a way to destroy the Ring. Perhaps he could use some of his late uncle's tools to do the job. "Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll take the power saw and…"

Suddenly, Jason felt a pressure on his head, which was then followed by blinding pain. It felt as if his brain was on fire. He stumbled around, trying to think, trying to see, but darkness was all around him. When he finally regained his consciousness, it was too late.

"Watch out!" was the last thing that Jason heard before he spotted the car and realized that he was in the street.

The first thing he felt were his legs being taken out from under him. Pain shot through his shoulder when he slammed into the hood. His body slid up the hood and his head immediately crashed into the windshield. Jason could feel the glass shatter and imbed itself into his forehead, as he rolled off of the hood after the car came to an abrupt stop. He rolled over on the ground and felt immense pain as the bones in his arm rubbed up against each other. Jason looked up at the sky and closed his eyes, feeling the blood roll down his face, knowing that this was the end.

* * *

Jason awoke in a strange room, filled with darkness. A few candles were placed around the room. _'Where am I? I feel alive, but I could be wrong.'_ Jason got up and walked around. He immediately noticed that there were no injuries on his body. _'Now I know I'm dead. This must be Hell. I was afraid of this. Oh well. Let's just get this eternal punishment thing over with.'_ But no punishment came. Jason looked around and realized that he still had his body, and he was very much alive.

'_Okay. This is weird.'_

He spotted a door at the far end of the room. Jason walked over to it and opened it. There was a long hallway, with doors on either side. Jason walked out into the hallway and opened the first door he saw. He saw the same image from his dream; the image where Seti was crouching behind the table. But this was from Seti's point of view. Jason closed the door and opened the next one. It was the same thing. Another image from his dream, but through Seti's eyes. Jason quickly shut that door and opened another one, and another one, and another one. The same awaited him behind each door. A part of Seti's life was all he could see.

_'These images aren't random. They're memories! Seti's memories. That must mean that I'm inside his mind. Is it another dream? Did the accident knock me into a coma?'_ Jason pinched himself. _'Itai. That stings. Well, I'm not dreaming. I'm inside Seti's head.'_

Jason looked up and saw the strange eye. It was the same eye on the front of the Millennium Ring. Suddenly, his earlier apprehension was repeated in his head over and over again. _'Seti can control my body when I'm asleep. And if I'm in a coma, then…he switched places with me. He's in control now!'

* * *

_

Seti looked up at the white ceiling of the room. After listening to an hour of Jason's aunt's wailing, he became aware of his surroundings. The building that the mortals called 'the hospital' was where they took him. Seti tried to sit up, but pain ripped through his arm. He looked down and saw the cast on his arm.

"So this is the price I must pay for freedom. Well, it's a small price compared to my mission. Ring, come to me."

The Millennium Ring materialized around his neck. Seti concentrated, and immediately felt his wounds and broken bones repairing, until he was completely healthy again. He ripped off all of his bandages and the cast over his arm. Seti got out of the bed and focused on the Ring.

"First thing's first. To get rid of the one person who can stop me."

* * *

Jason paced back and forth up and down the hallway. He tried to think of a way to get out.

"Maybe I can take control of him when he goes to sleep. Then I could find a way to knock him unconscious and take back my body."

_"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You are the only obstacle in my mission, therefore, you must be eliminated. Goodbye fool,"_ came the voice of the dark spirit who trapped Jason in the Ring.

Jason started to lose the feeling in his legs. He looked down and saw his body beginning to waste away. He was disappearing into the shadows. "No! I've got to fight it!"

_"You can't. Just embrace the shadows and it will all be over quickly."_

More and more of him wasted away. His waist, his stomach, his chest, all the way to his face disappeared into the shadows. _'It's over. It's all over,'_ Jason though as the freezing cold darkness pulled him in and surrounded him.

* * *

"Now that I've completed that little task, it's time to pay an old friend a visit." The small triangles that hung from the Millennium Ring pointed towards one of the walls in the room. "Oh good. He's close by." Seti got dressed and walked out of the room, dispatching any doctors he saw.

* * *

The pot on the stove whistled loudly. The white-haired boy ran over and turned it off before it boiled over. Life was pretty normal for Ryou Bakura since he was rid of his yami. The doorbell rang, distracting him from his thoughts. He walked to the door and opened it. A tall boy stood before him. His blonde hair was a little messy, stained with what Ryou assumed was red dye. He glared at Ryou. "Hello. How can I help you?" Ryou asked uneasily.

"You can give me the Millennium Eye," Seti responded as the Millennium Ring materialized around his neck. Ryou backed away from the door and tried to shut it, but Seti's strength was too much for that. He walked into the house and grabbed the white-haired boy by the throat. "Tell me. How has your life been since I left? Is it pleasant and cheery? Let me skip past the small talk. Where is the Eye?"

Ryou choked and sputtered, but managed to talk. "It's still in the same place that you left it last time."

Seti lifted Ryou into the air as if lifting a small child. Ryou could feel his head spin as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Seti grinned, then, hurled Ryou into the nearby wall with the greatest of ease. The boy immediately passed out from the impact. "You always were weak," Seti spat as he went back to Ryou's room.

When he went into the dining room a bookshelf caught his attention. It was filled with ancient books from different civilizations that Ryou's father picked up on his expeditions. But Seti noticed one book. "I don't believe it. I thought that I would never see this again."

It was one of Salazar Midus' old tomes. Seti picked the book up carefully and took it back into Ryou's room, where he sat on the bed and opened the book. Some of the hieroglyphs had been faded, but he could still read them. "This is excellent. Now that I have one of the books of Salazar Midus, I don't need the Millennium Items. Well, not all of them anyway."

Seti continued to read through the ancient text, ready to fulfill his promise and bring suffering and misery to the pharaoh who cursed his master.

* * *


	4. Winner Take All

**Episode 4: Winner Take All - Duel for the Item!**

Seti sat on the edge of Ryou's bed, flipping through the pages of the ancient book. As he did so, one section caught his eye. He read the small passage in that section and chuckled to himself. "So that's the secret that Salazar hid from us for so long. I assumed that it would be something incredible, and apparently I was right. I still need the power of three Millennium Items. I already have two. It's only a matter of getting the third Item."

Seti closed the book and got up from the bed. He concentrated and the triangles on the Ring pointed to the window. Seti went to the window and looked out. "Yes. It's closer than I thought."

Seti placed the ancient text in one of Ryou's old backpacks and slipped it onto his back. He walked over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers. After moving a few clothes, he found the Millennium Eye at the bottom. The spirit placed the Eye in his pocket and walked out of Ryou's room, after grabbing his deck as well.

* * *

Jason could feel himself falling again. Except this time, it wasn't a dream. The darkness that surrounded him was real. He could feel its cold presence slipping deep into the corners of his mind, trying to drive him insane with images of his worst nightmares. Jason reached down deep, and felt the force inside him. He used that force to expel the images from his mind and banish the shadows, leaving himself in an empty, black space.

'_Okay. That went smoothly_,' Jason thought as he staggered to his feet and looked around at his surroundings. "I can probably survive in here by staying connected to the Millennium Ring, but I'd need the actual Ring or some other Millennium Item to escape."

Jason looked around and saw nothing but a dark world. Shadows crept across the landscape, carrying with them the spirits of those who are tortured for all time. "This place looks exactly like the place where one would go for a Shadow Game. If that's the case, then maybe I can manipulate it with the Ring's power." Jason began to concentrate on controlling the shadows from the inside.

* * *

Seti looked up at the tall, glass building in front of him. The Millennium Ring glowed briefly, then, pointed at the top floor. He pulled the doors open, walked inside, and went up to the receptionist's desk, where the secretary was sitting. The spirit leaned on the counter and looked down at the young woman reading her book. "Where is the elevator?" he asked.

"Down the right hall, second door on the left," she responded without looking up at Seti.

The dark man turned and walked down the hall, then, got on the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. The car moved at a quick pace, which was perfect for Seti's impatience. He couldn't wait to get his hands on his next victim. The elevator soon stopped at its destination and the doors slid open. Seti strolled out into the hallway and looked around.

It was a simple hallway with a carpeted floor leading to a set of large golden doors. At the end of the passage, in front of the doors, there were two men in suits, who immediately approached Seti. "Can we help you? Because if you don't have an appointment, you can't be on this floor," one of the men said as he began to reach for his gun.

Seti simply reached into the Ring and used its power to dispatch the two guards with a blast of shadow energy. He had no time to deal with pathetic mortal such as those. The spirit continued down the hallway and pulled the doors open. Seti was slightly blinded by the bright lights in the room, but his eyes immediately adjusted to the light.

Statues of Duel Monsters lined the walls on either side. A large window overlooked the city at the other end of the room. The tranquility of the area was only broken by the sound of rapid typing coming from behind a large black chair at the back of the room. Seti snapped his fingers and the typing stopped.

"Can I help you with something? And try to make it fast. I'm very busy right now," came the smug voice from behind the chair.

"You have something that I want, and I'm going to take it," Seti responded in an equally haughty tone. Seti placed his hands on his hips and stood waiting for the response he knew he was going to get.

The chair swiveled around and Seti met with the fierce blue eyes of the young man in it. The man stood up and walked around the desk to face Seti. "And what makes you think that you can take whatever you it is that you want?" the man asked.

Seti closed his eyes and smirked. "Well that's simple. Because I'm a better duelist than you."

The man laughed scornfully at Seti, then, crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "Let me give you a piece of advice: walk away before you get embarrassed. You're not even in my league."

"Sounds to me like you've underestimate my skills. You've been doing that a lot lately, haven't you, Kaiba? You underestimated Yugi not once, but twice and you lost in your own tournament because of it," Seti retorted, knowing that it was just what he needed to set the man off. It happened to be one of his strong suits to know just how to piss people off.

Kaiba grimaced as he remembered the humiliating defeat he suffered at the hands of Yugi near the end of Battle City.

* * *

The two duelists stood atop the massive tower on the secluded island. It had been a long tournament, culminating, for the moment, at that very point, and at that moment in time, one of the two duelists was about to be crowed the winner, and one was about to lose it all.

Yami Yugi threw his hand out, palm flat and fingers spread wide apart, as he yelled his command to his mighty fusion monster. "Dark Paladin, destroy his Blue Eyes and wipe out the rest of his life points!"

The monster raised its blade, charged with the energy from the Diffusion Wave Motion spell card that Yami played, and it unleashed a torrent of power, obliterating the three massive silver dragons opposite it with shockwaves of energy.

"No! I will not be defeated in my own tournament!" Kaiba screamed as his monsters shattered and vanished, taking with them the Battle City crown that he rightfully deserved since day one.

* * *

Kaiba gritted his teeth and slammed his fist down on the desk with a resounding thud that echoed through the small office. "Fine! You want to duel, then get ready for the most humiliating moment of your life!"

Kaiba reached behind his desk and pulled out two devices. They were a metallic gray color with two blades, one shorter than the other, on either side. On top of the blades sat a round part with two slots, one over one of the blades, another that extended out over the blonde's fist and was covered by a red plastic holder. A clear black counter sat on the round part. He tossed one of the devices to Seti.

"Not in here, though. It's muchtoo impersonal for my tastes. Duel me on the roof of the building," Seti said. "There, you can look down on the world as you lose," Seti added with a smirk as he slipped the Duel Disk on his arm. He turned and walked towards Kaiba's private elevator, but stopped abruptly. "Oh and Kaiba? Be sure to bring that Millennium Rod with you," Seti said without turning around.

He continued to walk towards the elevator, leaving Kaiba in a state of confusion. "How do you know about the Rod!" he demanded. Seti didn't answer him. He got on the elevator and headed for the roof. '_Who does that fool think he is! I'm going to crush him with the power of my Blue Eyes White Dragons! Then we'll see who's underestimating who._'

* * *

Seti got off of the elevator and walked out onto the roof. The wind blew slightly, and the morning sun shone down on the building. It was still early, around ten o'clock, meaning that there was plenty of time left in the day for Seti to work his evil plans. The dark spirit walked to the other side of the helipad and waited for his opponent. '_At last, it will be completed. This fool will be no challenge to me_.'

The elevator doors opened again and Kaiba stepped out. He walked over towards Seti and took his place on the helipad. The breeze blew again, whipping around Kaiba's short brown hair and long white duster elegantly behind him. "You made a big mistake by challenging me. I'm going to crush you," he said as he held up his Duel Disk.

Seti chuckled and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well, if you duel as proficiently as you talk, then I might actually break a sweat," Seti responded calmly.

Kaiba clenched his fists, but calmed down and let his anger slowly diminish. "Whatever, big-mouth. This duel will be by Battle City rules, got it?"

"Of course," Seti said as he thrust his Duel Disk out in front of him. "I just hope that you've still got your touch. After all, losing to Yugi can put a damper on your skills and your confidence, can't it?"

Kaiba ignored him as he opened his Duel Disk with a flourish. The holographic projectors launched from the bottom of the devices, and the two blade-like sections of the Duel Disks snapped together to their ready positions.

"Let's duel!" the two shouted simultaneously.

(Kaiba: 4000) (Seti: 4000)

"I'll start this off. I place two cards face down and a monster in defense mode. That ends my turn, so let's see what you're capable of," Kaiba said. The three brown backed holograms appeared on the field in their respective order. Seti looked at them, and scoffed as he drew from his deck.

"Oh you'll see that and more. I, too, shall place a card face down and I'll also summon Opticlops (1800/1700) in attack mode." In a bright flash, a large, muscular brown demon appeared on the field.It loweredits head and pointed its long menacing hornat Kaiba's defense monster. "Now, Opticlops, attack his face down monster!"

The demon charged and ran through the monster, a small clown dressed in baggy jester's clothes with a mask. The monster immediately shattered from the attack and Kaiba smirked. "You destroyed Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200), whose special effect allows me to remove him from play and summon another Peten from my hand or deck in defense mode."

Kaiba pulled the card from his deck and placed it on the Duel Disk. Another dark clown appeared on the field with a quickbow and a laugh. "Fine. I end my turn," Seti said, unimpressed by Kaiba's tactics so far.

The young CEO drew and added the card to his hand, deciding to save it for a later time in the duel. "Now, I'll sacrifice Peten the Dark Clown to summon Kaiser Glider (2400/2200) in attack mode!" Peten became engulfed in a brilliant flame and out of the fire a large, golden dragon that resembled a giant falcon rose. The glowing monster floated down next to Kaiba. "Next, I'll activate Peten's ability again, and bring forth another dark clown, this time in attack mode."

Kaiba placed a card on the Duel Disk from his hand this time and a third Peten appeared on the field with a taunting, yet jester-like dance. Seti continued to appear unimpressed by Kaiba's moves, even though the CEO had the overall monster advantage. "Now, Kaiser Glider, attack the Opticlops with Phoenix Flare!" The golden dragon opened its mouth and unleashed an intense flame, reducing Seti's demon to ashes.

(Kaiba: 4000) (Seti: 3400)

"Now my Peten will attack your life points directly!" Kaiba declared. The dark clown pulled a sharp dagger from under its shirt and rushed at Seti, stabbing him in the heart.

(Kaiba: 4000) (Seti: 2900)

"I hope you enjoyed that, because I assure you that it will happen again," Kaiba declared with his usual sense of overblown confidence.

The CEO ended his turn and Seti drew. In spite of Kaiba's new, more impressive monster, Seti still remained unconcerned. He picked two cards out of his hand and played them in rapid succession. "I place another card face down and summon Giant Orc (2200/0) in attack mode!" A burly bone-gray ogre wielding a long, thick club materialized on the field where Opticlops once stood. "Now, Orc, attack Peten!"

The monster charged at the small clown and swung its club over its shoulder, ready to deliver a mighty blow. "Not so fast. Reveal trap card, Negate Attack! This card will stop your monster dead in its tracks," Kaiba intoned as his face down hologram flipped up.

"You're so predictable. Activate counter trap, Trap Jammer. This card negates any trap activated after an attack is declared. So the clown still dies," Seti said with satisfaction clearly lacing his voice. A vortex opened in front of Peten, but quickly vanished leaving the monster no protection. Seti's Orc swung its club around and battered the dark clown with bone-crushing force. Kaiba's monster flew back and shattered.

(Kaiba: 2300) (Seti: 2900)

"You will pay for that," Kaiba hissed. He wasn't as upset that he lost his monster, as he was that Seti would dare to call him predictable.

"I'm sorry, did you say something. I couldn't hear you over the sound of your life points dropping like a stone," Seti teased.

"Are you through, or are you going to make petty attempts at teasing me for the rest of the duel!" Kaiba shouted, clearly annoyed by Seti's superior playing thus far.

"No, I'm not done yet, so be patient. My Giant Orc switches to defense mode after each attack and stays that way until after my next turn. Now I'm done," Seti said as his hulking monster tightened its grip on its club and moved into a defensive position.

Kaiba quickly snapped the top card off of his deck. "I'll place a card face down and summon my X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode!"

A large yellow machine monster appeared. It had a small black head with narrow yellow eyes sitting on top of a think armor-plated yellow body and a black floatation sphere for a lower body. The menacing cannon barrels on its shoulders were pointed directly at Seti. "You walked right into my trap card. I activate Dark Removal!" Seti declared.

A large black cross rose from the ground next to Kaiba. Black ropes shot out from the cross and lashed Kaiba'snewly summoned monsterto it. "What have you done to my X-Head Cannon!" Kaiba demanded.

"I removed it from play for three turns. I certainly hope it wasn't a key part of your strategy," Seti said sarcastically.

Kaiba could start to feel the rage inside him building again. He couldn't believe that this no talent rookie waltzed into his office, challenged him to a duel, and was now showing him up as if he were nothing. "Kaiser Glider, destroy the Giant Orc!" Kaiba screamed.

The golden dragon blasted a wave of radiant flame almost as intense as Kaiba's rage at the Giant Orc, destroying it on impact. "Now if he were in attack mode, you could have done some damage," Seti said, continuing to tease Kaiba.

"Just shut up and duel without the comments," Kaiba snapped before he ended his turn.

"With pleasure. I'll draw, set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn," Seti said, after making the simple play. With it, he hoped to get rid of Kaiser Glider and put a nice dent in Kaiba's life points.

"Then it's my go," Kaiba said as he drew his next card. "I place one monster face down and have Kaiser Glider attack your defense monster."

Kaiba's dragon tore through the hologram with its blazing flame. A large tomato appeared, then, vanished in the fire. "You destroyed my Mystic Tomato (1400/1000), whose effect allows me to summon a weaker dark monster from my deck. And I choose Gantu the Tortured Demon (0/1900), in attack mode!" Seti declared. A tall, cloaked demon rose from the ground. It moaned painfully as it stuck a twisted, flaming arm out from under the cloak. '_I might as well make some use out of that fool's deck_,' Seti thought as Kaiba laughed at his play.

"I can't believe that you expect that thing to save you. With zero attack, my Kaiser Glider will reduce it to ashes." Kaiba smugly folded his arms as Seti's new monster groaned again.

"I'm not interested in its attack, but if you were a _real_ duelist, you'd know that," Seti said, eliciting a scowl from his opponent. "I'm activating its special effect. When Gantu is normal summoned in attack mode, I can destroy one monster on the field and do direct damage to your life points equal to the destroyed monster's attack. And I choose Kaiser Glider!"

Gantu reached out with its deformed arm and grabbed Kaiba's monster by its throat, squeezing it until the dragon shattered. Kaiba smiled and pointed at his face down card. "Face down card open, Stone of Purification," Kaiba declared. A large ruby appeared in front of Kaiba and glowed brightly.

(Kaiba: 4700) (Seti: 2900)

"Very clever Kaiba. Using the Stone of Purification card to change the life point damage to life point gain was a good move, but not good enough to win the duel for you," Seti said.

"You can ramble on all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to beat you. So take your turn."

"We'll see about that," Seti said as he drew. "I'll just put this monster on the field in defense mode and switch Gantu to defense mode. That ends my turn."

Kaiba drew, then, tossed his head back and laughed maliciously. He was certain that his next play would at least shut Seti up for good and prove he was the best. "Now, it's time to show you why I'm the best. First I activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards." A large, green pot appeared on the field. The face on the pot twisted into an ugly grin and two transparent hands rose from inside it, holding up two cards. Kaiba drew two cards from his deck, bringing his hand to three cards "Next, I'll activate D.D. Designator. This card allows me to call one card name. You must show me your hand, and if you have that card in your hand, you must remove it from play. But if you don't I have to remove one card in my hand from play."

Seti smirked and shook his head, whipping Jason's blonde hair around it. "Let's just hope that you can call it right," Seti said with more of his trademark sarcasm.

"I've got a better idea. I call the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba snapped back, pointing at Seti's hand.

Seti laughed, then, fanned out his hand to show Kaiba. "I have no such card in my deck, let alone my hand. You alone possess the only Blue Eyes White Dragons in the world, so why would you call something so foolish?"

"Just watch and learn," Kaiba said as he removed a card in his hand from play. "I activate my face down trap card, Return from the Different Dimension! At the cost of half of my life points, I get to summon all of my monsters that have been removed from play. So return to me X-Head Cannon, both Petens and Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)!"

(Kaiba: 2350) (Seti: 2900)

'Y-Dragon Head! He must've removed it from play with D.D. Designator. He's smarter than I originally gave him credit for,' Seti thought.

The cross disappeared from behind X-Head Cannon and the two dark clowns reappeared with twin laughs. Next to them appeared a red, floating mechanical dragon with long wings and glowing yellow eyes. "Next, I'll flip over my face down monster, the Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)." The face down hologram card flipped up and a large tank-like monster appeared. Large tracks rested at the sides of the monster's yellow body and it had a large yellow sphere for a head with a clear sensor that served as an eye. "Now, X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank, combine yourselves into one!"

The three monsters transformed and combined until they were all one monster with X-Head Cannon on top, Y-Dragon Head as the torso, and Z-Metal Tank on the bottom. Seti chuckled. "Well, that's an impressive monster you've got. But can it get the job done?"

"Oh, it can. My XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600) can do that and more! But I'm afraid that's not all I've got. For my normal summon, I sacrifice both my dark clowns to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!" The two clowns were engulfed in a stream of light that shot down from the heavens. A large, silver dragon emerged from the light and unleashed an earth-shaking roar, before taking its place next to its master and folding back its massive wings. "Now who's got the advantage?" Kaiba asked, though he was certain of the answer.

"It doesn't matter about your monsters. I've still got a few tricks left up my sleeves," Seti declared. He knew that this was the best that Kaiba could do for the moment, so if he got past it, he knew he could win.

Kaiba glared at Seti and held up a fist. "Your tricks mean nothing to me, because now, I'm going to wipe you out in an all out blitz! So get ready, because it ends here and now!"

* * *


	5. In the Shadow of the Sanctuary

**Episode 5: In the Shadow of the Sanctuary **

"Now that I have XYZ Dragon Cannon and Blue Eyes on the field, you have no chance," Kaiba said confidently as he stared at his newly formed machine and the massive silver dragon next to it. In his mind, he knew that Seti wasn't going to leave that rooftop with a win as long as his Blue Eyes and his Cannon were on the field.

Seti chuckled darkly and shook his head. In his mind, he knew the truth about the situation that Kaiba's over inflated ego was covering up. "Not exactly. I'm well aware of the situation, but I still have two monsters protecting my life points. And with no cards in your hand, not only can you not activate your Dragon Cannon's effect, but if those two monster of yours go, you'll be defenseless against my onslaught," Seti said.

"We'll just have to see about that now won't we?" Kaiba asked with a smug smirk. He threw his hand out and pointed a straight finger at Seti's cloaked demon. "XYZ Dragon Cannon, destroy Gantu!" The hybrid machine blasted Gantu into oblivion with high-powered beams from its laser cannons and the Y-Dragon Head's mouth in the monster's torso. Kaiba quickly followed up with a shout to his dragon. "Now, Blue Eyes, attack his defense monster with White Lightning!"

The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed an earth shattering blast of light. An empty suit of armor appeared on the field and tried to block the blast with its shield, but the intense beam was too much and the monster was incinerated. "Now, you have nothing protecting you. I end my turn."

Seti drew and added the card to his hand without looking at it. "Here's what I've got. I'll remove Gantu, Opticlops, and The Headless Knight (1450/1700) from the graveyard to summon Dark Necrofear (2200/2800) in defense mode!" A chill blew through the area as black sparks crackled on the field. Suddenly, a large black hole opened and out of it emerged a purple ball of energy. The ball came to a stop in front of Seti and began to change shape until it resembled a blue creature, female in appearance. She was surrounded by a black aura and cradled a broken doll in her arms. "Next, I'll activate The Dark Door. As long as this card is in play, only one monster can attack per turn."

A large open doorway appeared between Kaiba and Seti. A transparent swirling vortex of energy came through the door and demons burst out of it. Kaiba scoffed and closed his eyes. "This is nothing more than another of your stall tactics. I must say that I am nowhere near impressed with your move."

"You will be once you discover the horror of what I have waiting for you. My turn is over, but the nightmare is just beginning," Seti declared. He laughed maliciously, prompting Kaiba to sneer at him.

"You're beginning to annoy me. I'll place a card face down and have Blue Eyes destroy your Dark Necrofear!" Kaiba commanded.

The dragon obliterated Seti's monster with its energy blast. The demons in the doorway rushed out and grabbed XYZ Dragon Cannon, preventing it from moving and getting in front of its cannons, despite the monster's objections. "Once again, you have fallen into my trap. I find you to be the most gullible of all those I've beaten," Seti said as he slid his Necrofear into the graveyard slot.

"Just go," Kaiba retorted edgily. He really had no time for Seti's mockery or tricks, and was quickly running out of the little patience he had left for the soul stealer.

"As you wish," Seti said as he drew. "I'll activate the continuous spell card Suicidal Greed. It allows me to draw a card from my deck for every 500 life points I give up. So I give up 2000 points to draw four cards."

(Kaiba: 2350) (Seti: 900)

"And now that my Dark Necrofear is in the Graveyard, I can activate the card of your demise. Welcome to the Dark Sanctuary!" Seti placed the card in the sliding field card tray. Lightning crackled throughout the area and the skies turned red as blood. Demonic eyes opened and watched from the sky. Mouths appeared and bared fangs, which were licked by demonic tongues, almost in a sick pleasure. A chill ran down Kaiba's spine, though he stood his ground and pretended not to be unnerved.

"Wait a minute. I remember this. That Bakura kid used this same tactic against Yugi in the quarter-finals of Battle City," Kaiba said as he stared at the occult world forming around him.

"Now that you remember, I can let go of this useless charade," Seti declared. He concentrated and the Millennium Ring passed through Jason's shirt and hung loosely around his neck. Kaiba's eyes widened in shock.

"Just what is that supposed to mean to me?" The CEO replied. He was certainly surprised to see Bakura's Millennium Item around this kid's neck. Thoughts of what he did to get the Item floated into his head.

"I see that you still don't understand. I'm back from the Shadow Realm and ready to conquer this world. But before I can, I need your Millennium Item, so when you lose this duel, you will hand you Rod over to me."

"I guess you don't know me that well, because if you did, you'd realize that I don't believe in all that crap about the Shadow Realm! I don't know why you have Bakura's trinket around your neck, but it has no relevance to what we're doing, so just get on with the duel."

Seti let a dark smile touch his features as he pulled another card out of his hand. "I see that I'll have to force you to believe. And I'll do it with this, my Jowgen the Spiritualist (200/1300) in attack mode!" A man in long white robes appeared on the field. He held up a large staff. "My monster can destroy all special summoned monsters on the field when I discard a card from my hand. And XYZ Dragon Cannon falls under that category. So go, Jowgen. Use your effect and obliterate his monster!"

Seti placed one card in his graveyard slot. Jowgen began to chant and point his staff at XYZ Dragon Cannon. Kaiba grimaced as a beam of purple energy laced with mystic symbols fired from the staff and shattered the monster. "Now, Jowgen, become a sacrifice for the power of my Dark Sanctuary as I end my turn!"

The priest disappeared in a dark flash. Kaiba drew, unflinching despite his new dark surroundings and the loss of his Dragon Cannon. "You are wide open for a direct assault from my Blue Eyes White Dragon, so go, Blue Eyes, attack him directly and finish off the rest of his life points!"

Kaiba's monster didn't budge. It began to shake, violently, as if something were trying to escape from it. Suddenly, a ghost burst out of Blue Eyes and slammed into Kaiba, knocking the young CEO to the ground.

(Kaiba: 850) (Seti: 2400)

"What happened!" Kaiba demanded as he stood up after being knocked down by the attack. It wasn't as much the attack that surprised him as it was the drastic change in the life point totals.

"Oh how quickly we forget. The spirit of Dark Sanctuary is not pleased with you Kaiba. He's upset that you forgot about his effect," Seti said in a mock sad voice.

Kaiba thought for a moment, then, remembered the danger of Dark Sanctuary. "Now I remember fully. That ghost stops the attack, and takes half of the attack points of one of my attacking monsters and deducts it from my life points, then, adds them to your life points."

"Precisely. You catch on fast. So do you end your turn?"

"Yes," Kaiba said in a slightly defeated tone. He had to find a way around the ghost of the Sanctuary; otherwise, his life points were going to go down the drain. And a loss to Seti was the last thing that the CEO needed.

"Good. Now I draw. Remember the card I discarded for Jowgen's effect? Well it's back. The Sinister Serpent (350/200) is a very special card with a special effect. When it's sent to the graveyard, I can return it to my hand during any of the following turns. Isn't that great? Now I summon my Sinister Serpent in attack mode." A large green serpent appeared with a deep hiss. "I'll also place a card face down. Next I'll sacrifice Sinister Serpent to the Dark Sanctuary and end my turn."

The green creature disappeared as the field around it absorbed its life force. Kaiba snapped the top card off of his deck. "I draw. And I got just what I needed. I'll activate Mystic Wok. This card allows me to sacrifice a monster and gain life points equal to that monster's attack or defense. And choose Blue Eyes for attack."

The dragon vanished in a burst of white light that also engulfed Kaiba at the same time.

(Kaiba: 3350) (Seti: 2400)

"You were that desperate to win, that you sacrificed your own monster. What a shame," Seti teased.

"I'm not done yet, because your Suicidal Greed card also works for your opponent, in case you didn't know, so I'll use the effect of your card to draw four cards from my deck," Kaiba declared, ignoring Seti's comment.

(Kaiba: 1350) (Seti: 2400)

Kaiba drew the cards, bringing his hand to five. He immediately laughed in triumph. "Now this is where it ends. I'll activate Draconic Resurrection. At the cost of half my life points, I can summon as many of my dragons from the graveyard as possible. So I'll revive Blue Eyes and Kaiser Glider!"

(Kaiba: 675) (Seti: 2400)

Both dragons reappeared on the field in a burst of green light. "Next, I'll activate Polymerization to fuse my Blue Eyes White Dragon on the field, with the ones in my hand."

Two more Blue Eyes' appeared in the sky. The one on the field flew up to join them. They were all engulfed in a brilliant stream of light that shot up from the field. Massive wings burst out of the luminescent stream as it faded away to reveal a huge three-headed Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Say hello to the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)," Kaiba declared.

Seti held his arms outward and laughed. "Yes, that's right. Build up all your attack power so that I may drain of the last of your life points with the spirit of the Dark Sanctuary."

"I suspected as much. You haven't possessed one of my monsters yet. Otherwise the spirit would've been destroyed with the original Blue Eyes. But don't worry, because I've got a surprise for you. I sacrifice the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to summon the creature of your defeat."

"Sacrifice the Ultimate Dragon!" Seti repeated in shock. He hadn't yet heard of a creature worth sacrificing the Ultimate Dragon for. The only thing like that was Kaiba's Egyptian god monster, Obelisk the Tormentor, but the pharaoh stripped his of that in the Battle City finals.

Kaiba's monster began to glow with a brilliant white light. It transformed right before Seti's eyes into a smaller dragon with blue orbs growing from its wings and head. This new monster shined with an incandescent force that seemed to pierce the darkness of the Dark Sanctuary itself. "Now you face the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Seti looked at the dragon closely, then, laughed hard. "There is no difference between that thing and your last monster!" he exclaimed. "Either way, it's over."

"No. The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon is much different from my last dragon. First, it gains 300 from every dragon in my graveyard."

"Power makes no difference to the spirit of the Dark Sanctuary. You shall still fall," Seti retorted, trying his best to rile Kaiba up some more.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean squat to my new dragon. His special effect negates all targeted effects, including your spirit!" Seti only stared at the new monster and chuckled slightly, not in the least bit concerned about its effect. Kaiba raised his hand and gave the final command. "Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (4200/2500), wipe out the rest of his life points with Shining Neutron Blast!" The monster opened its mouth and charged up a powerful blast. Seti simply looked on as the blast came and slammed into him with ungodly force. "Now, it's over. That's what happens when you challenge the most powerful duelist in the world," Kaiba declared triumphantly.

But Kaiba's celebration would be short lived, as the force of the blast was absorbed into a vortex of energy that took the form of a ghost, similar to the one from the Dark Sanctuary. The ghost shot out and dove into Kaiser Glider. Seti's laughter could be heard through the darkness. Kaiba looked up and saw the truth.

"I'm afraid my trap card says differently. Feel the wrath of the Dark Spirit of the Silent. This card cancels out your dragon's attack and forces another monster to attack in its place. And the only other choice is Kaiser Glider. And you know what that means."

The ghost of the Dark Sanctuary burst out of Kaiser Glider and pounded Kaiba with renewed force.

(Kaiba: 0) (Seti 3600)

"No, it can't be," Kaiba whispered to himself as the reality of his defeat hit him like a ton of bricks. "How could I lose to this rank amateur?"

Seti calmly strode over to Kaiba as the Dark Sanctuary disappeared around him. His usual derisive grin was clear and present on his face as he reached Kaiba. "I'll take my prize now," he said as he held out his hand. Kaiba pulled the rod out from under his coat and tossed it at Seti, who caught it in one hand. "Yes, I finally have what I need."

"Yeah, now go and never return," Kaiba hissed. He was truly pissed at himself for having fallen for such a cheap and obvious trick. Seti's voice was the last thing he needed to hear at that point.

"Oh, but I'm not done yet. Remember that this duel was under Battle City rules, which means I get your rarest card. And since you have three cards of equal rarity, I'll take all three of your Blue Eyes White Dragons." Seti's heart almost leaped out of his chest with rapture as he rubbed his victory into Kaiba's face.

Kaiba's heart sank to the bottom of his chest. He felt as if though someone had ripped out his spirit. Kaiba preferred death to such humiliation. But a deal's a deal and a rule is a rule. Kaiba fanned out his graveyard and pulled the three cards out. "I…can't believe that I'm losing my dragons," he mumbled.

Seti closed his eyes and smiled. He could felt something in his stomach that he hadn't felt in millennia. It was joy. He felt pure, unadulterated joy at the defeat of his rival. "Yes. Unfathomable grief and despair can be so refreshing, can't it?" Kaiba sank to his knees and held out the Blue Eyes', which Seti greedily snatched out of his hands. The spirit looked at the cards. "Such power, yet so useless. Maybe I could use them for coasters or something."

Kaiba lowered his head and growled as Seti laughed derisively at him. The soul stealer looked down and began thinking. "Sending you to the Shadow Realm would be pointless. I'd rather you wallow in your own misery and despair, _loser_," Seti stressed the last word as much as he could.

The dark spirit walked away, leaving Kaiba on his knees, defeated. Seti got on the elevator and the doors closed behind him.

* * *


	6. Calling the Spirits

**Episode 6: Calling the Spirits - Yugi's Dark Challenge**

Seti walked back toward Ryou's house, clutching his prizes in his hand. He looked down at the Blue Eyes White Dragons. "These are very powerful monsters. Perhaps I can use them for something. But right now, my main concern is the next step in my plan. Now that I have the Items that I required, I can complete the ritual. But the question is: how do I keep Yugi and the others from interfering? Well, I'll worry about that later."

The dark spirit continued back with the book in Ryou's backpack. His plans would soon come to fruition.

* * *

The breeze blew slightly through the trees of the park as Yugi sat on the bench. He went out for a short walk to get away from the stress of being hunted down by every duelist within a hundred mile radius, but he had to be careful not to be seen, because these days, every duelist he met had something to prove by beating him. 'I wish I would've known that all this trouble was going to come with the title of King of Games.'

_"Would knowing have made things any easier?"_ Yami asked. He knew that he had to beat Pegasus and assume the title of Game King; otherwise, they never would've got back the soul of Yugi's grandfather back in Duelist's Kingdom.

'I guess not,' Yugi said as he looked up at the sky and thought about Pegasus, the eccentric billionaire creator of Duel Monsters. Yugi looked down at the ground and caught a glimpse of the large golden pyramid called the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. It was glowing slightly, but he just figured that it was coming from the sun reflecting off the surface. Yugi asked just make sure, though. 'Pharaoh, is everything okay?'

There was some silence, but Yami sighed and spoke up. "_No. There is trouble in the air. A shift in the balance of Shadow magic had occurred. It's as if one side has gotten stronger, while another side became weaker."_

'What do you suppose caused this shift?' Yugi asked, letting a hint of concern creep into his voice. Usually, anything that had to do with the balance of Shadow magic was bad.

Yami sighed again, then, spoke. "_Only one thing has created the shift. I'm afraid that a Millennium Item has changed hands."_

Yugi's heart skipped a beat and he immediately tried to think of all the people who owned Millennium Items. 'The Puzzle and Necklace are still safe with us. That just leaves the Eye, Key, Scale, Rod, and Ring. I think it's safe to say that Shadi can handle himself, so we can rule out the Scale and Key.'

_"That just leaves the Eye, Rod and Ring,"_ Yami said.

'The Eye is our best bet since we don't know where it is. The Ring is with Jason and the Rod should still be in Kaiba's hands.'

_"I don't know. I can feel an evil, yet familiar presence tampering with the forces of the Items, so we should check out all of the Items, just to be safe. Let's start with the Rod, since we know for a fact where that is."_

'That sounds like a good idea. Let's go.' Yugi got up and walked out of the park towards Kaiba Corp.

* * *

Ryou swept up the dirt from the floor. Seti knocked over a vase in his search and left a terrible mess all over the house. Ryou's head still hurt from being thrown into the wall, but he'd be fine. A loud knock at the front door shook him out of his concentration. Ryou picked up a nearby baseball bat and swung it over his shoulder. He walked over to the door. "Who's there?" he called out timidly, his British accent heavily lacing his voice.

"Delivery service. I've got a package for a Ryou Bakura," came the deep voice from behind the door. Ryou placed the bat down by the door and opened it, catching a hard jab to the face that knocked him to the floor. He looked up at Seti, who stared down at him with a look of disgust. "Your trusting nature sickens me," he spat venomously. Seti reached down and picked up Ryou, who was shaking in fear, by his throat. Seti glared into his eyes, then, looked over at the bat on the floor. "You were going to use that on me? Damn you're pathetic. I see you need another demonstration of what a Millennium Item can truly do."

Seti let go of Ryou's throat, but the boy still hung suspended in the air. It felt as if Seti's hand were still wrapped around his throat and tightening its grip. Seti blasted Ryou with a wave of shadow energy, which sent him flying into the back wall where Seti kept him pinned. "What are you going to do with me?" Ryou asked, whimpering on the wall.

"You shouldn't worry about that right now," Seti replied with a twisted smirk spreading across Jason's features. "You should instead count yourself lucky to be here right now. You shall witness the birth of a god."

Seti strolled over to the back of the house, leaving Ryou to hang from the wall like a living picture frame. Ten minutes later, he came back with two long poles with mirrors attached to the ends, and was dressed in a ceremonial robe that hung down to his shins. Seti carefully set the poles up under the skylight. He dragged the coffee table over and draped an ancient cloth over it. "What are you doing?" Ryou inquired, fearful of the answer, but still curious. "And where did you get this stuff from?"

Seti glared at him through empty black eyes, then, curled his upper lip, baring his teeth in a look of disgust. "Sit still and watch! Your stupid questions are starting to give me headaches," he said in his usual pugnacious manner.

When he was done, he dragged the book out of the backpack and set it up on the table. Seti glanced at the clock on the wall near the door. It read 11:57. He walked over and picked up a large ancient statue from the end table and hurled it at the skylight, shattering the glass and letting the sun filter in, much to Ryou's anxiety. It would hard to explain to his father that a 5,000-year-old spirit broke the skylight and tore the house apart. Seti spoke in a different, almost imperial voice.

"Now it is time."

He pulled the Millennium Rod and Eye out of his pockets and placed them on the table, on both sides of the book. He, then, slipped the ring over his head and placed it above the book. Seti opened the ancient tome and flipped through it, stopping on a page. He began reading the ancient hieratic script aloud.

"_Keetash ootah parem. Setui dormus naramba kisash, rasheem ooloo kashka. Yath tu ai mal, yath tu ai mal, yath tu ai mal_!"

Seti's voice began to rise as he screamed out the words to the incantation. The room began to shake, and the sun reached its apex at noon, reflecting light off of the mirrors and onto the three Millennium Items, casting them in an eerie yellow glow. Seti was now screaming at the top of his lungs, as if though each word he spoke caused him pain.

"_Arise spirits of Egypt_!_ Seek your revenge by the burning sands_!_ Kadeesh mal pared ootash_!_ Pared oos_!_ Pared oos_!"

A brilliant golden flash blinded both Seti and Ryou as an unearthly moaning filled the room. A twister of pure radiance shot from the book and spirits rose into the afternoon sky, screaming in fated agony. Seti screamed back at them. "Go! Seek your proper hosts, then, destroy the Pharaoh who condemned you to the pits of the underworld! Destroy Atem!" The spirits took off in different directions with a cacophony of shrill screeching. Seti turned to Ryou and spoke in a hoarse whisper due to his earlier screaming. "This is where it gets fun."

* * *

Yugi stood outside of Kaiba's office. It took some coaxing to get Mokuba to let him see Kaiba, considering the mood he was in. Mokuba walked up behind Yugi and looked at the door, a distant sigh escaping his lips. Little Yugi turned around. "Mokuba, what's the matter with you?" he inquired, hearing the sigh.

Mokuba continued to stare at the door blankly, but still answered Yugi's question. "My brother is extremely upset about something. He kept mumbling something about his pride, a duel, and some ring."

Yami grew increasingly worried, and the word 'duel' didn't help matters at all. He paced back and forth in his soul room before deciding to check things out for himself. He concentrated and took his transparent form, standing next to Yugi. _"I have a very bad feeling about this whole situation, Yugi,"_ the pharaoh said as he stared at the door.

"So do I," Yugi whispered.

"What was that?" Mokuba asked.

Yugi immediately lied and said 'nothing', making sure to make a mental note that only he can see Yami outside of the Puzzle. Mokuba sighed again and opened the doors to his brother's office. Seto was furiously typing away at his laptop, mumbling to himself. Mokuba hesitantly knocked on the door, knowing that Yugi was the last person Kaiba wanted to see. "Big bro? Someone is here to talk to you," he said in a timid voice.

Kaiba looked up at Yugi, then, snarled in anger. "Mokuba, what did I tell you about inviting _him _into my office!" Kaiba spat out the 'him' as if Yugi's name were a disease. "Especially when I'm in a bad mood!"

He looked back down at his laptop and continued typing. Yugi slowly walked over towards the desk, but was stopped by Yami. _"Perhaps I should talk to him. I have a better time dealing with Kaiba's hostility,"_ he suggested. Yugi nodded and switched places with the pharaoh, allowing him to pick up where the boy left off.

"Kaiba, I need to ask you some questions," Yami said calmly. Kaiba didn't look up, but mumbled something about an inferior strategy. Yami continued. "Mokuba mentioned something about a duel. What happened?"

Kaiba stopped typing and folded the laptop down. He glared past Yami at Mokuba, who was shaking slightly at the thought of his brother's wrath. "You told _him _about the duel. How dare you! Get out of my office!" he shouted. Yami stumbled back slightly. He was used to getting yelled at by Kaiba, but he never thought he'd see Kaiba yell at his brother. Mokuba looked at his brother with tears forming in his eyes. He turned and ran out of the office, leaving Yami alone with an infuriated Kaiba. "I don't know why you're still here. I've got nothing to say to you."

"Please, Kaiba. Tell me what happened, and I won't bother you about anything else," Yami said, knowing that it was a lie. He had a million questions to ask Kaiba, and he intended to get his answers.

Kaiba leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. He finally spoke after a few seconds of utter silence between the two duelists. "I lost a duel. It was a Battle City style duel, so I lost the Millennium Rod and my Blue Eyes White Dragons, not that I care about that creepy, useless object that you gave me after Battle City, but my dragons were my pride. I know what you're wondering so let me get it out of the way: it was that Bakura kid that beat me."

Yami's eyes widened. There was no way that Bakura could've beaten Kaiba on his own, unless, the spirit of the Ring was back. "Are you sure that it was Bakura?"

"Yes! He had the strange ring around his neck, so I know it was him. He just looked different. Now leave me to my work," Kaiba demanded.

Yami turned around and walked towards the door. He stopped just short of the doorway and spoke without turning around. "You know, Kaiba, there is an expression that goes 'he who runs with aggression, walks with shame'."

Kaiba simply snorted, so Yami left the office. Kaiba sat back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. His heart began to feel heavy as he looked back down at the empty office. He picked up his locket and opened it, staring at the picture of his little brother.

"Mokuba…"

* * *

Yami walked down the crowded street, pondering the possibilities. Yugi spoke to him from inside his head. _"If Kaiba saw the Millennium Ring, then Jason is the one we need to look for. But why would Jason duel Kaiba for the Rod and his Blue Eyes?"_

'I don't think it was Jason at all. There's no doubt that he is involved, because Kaiba mentioned the Millennium Ring. But, someone else may have the Ring, and Jason is the only one who may know who and how. Now there is the matter of tracking Jason down,' Yami thought.

As he continued to walk, a tall man stood in front of him, not moving at all. When Yami reached him, he blocked his way. The pharaoh tried to sidestep, but the man moved with him. "Excuse me. You're in my way," Yami said.

The man looked down at Yami. His complexion was dark as night and his dark brown eyes shot daggers at Yami. He was dressed in nothing but black, despite it being a warm day. The man simply laughed at Yami's words. "Just like you were in the way of my master's plans," he said with a grating, deep tone.

The Millennium Puzzle glowed brightly around Yugi's neck. He stepped back slightly and glared back at the man. "Are you a Rare Hunter?" he asked cautiously.

"No. I am known as Amune-ra. But that is not important. What is important is what I came back for. I came back for revenge, pharaoh. You will pay for what you did to me!" the man declared, letting Yami know his intentions.

The Eye of Horus flashed brightly on the man's forehead as he spoke. Yugi became concerned about the unfolding events. 'Maybe he has something to do with the Millennium items,' the pharaoh thought. "Alright. If you want revenge, then come and get it," Yami said with an air of confidence. He didn't want to fight the man on the street, but it seemed that he had been given no other choice.

"Not here or now, but in one hour at the dock in the south section of Domino. Be there, and ready to duel, or there will be consequences. Grave consequences." After saying this, the man sank into the ground, passing through the concrete as if it were air. Yami looked around. Apparently, no one else had seen the confrontation, so that was good. But questions buzzed in Yami's mind.

'Who was that man? Who is his master? What did I do to stop him? What did I stop? And more importantly, why do I feel a great and terrible force pulling me towards certain doom?'

* * *


	7. Defeat the Spirit's Vengeance!

**Episode 7: Defeat the Spirit's Vengeance!**

Yami stood on the docks of the Domino pier. He ran home to grab his Duel Disk and his deck, then, came to the place where he was supposed to duel Amune-ra. 'I guess we're supposed to wait,' Yami thought as he looked around. Yami walked around the area for a few moments. Boats where anchored in the harbor and the smell of fish was all around. He turned towards the warehouse district and spotted Amune-ra, waiting on him in the shadows. Yami walked up to the man. "Alright, what is this all about?" the pharaoh demanded.

"5,000 years ago, you sentenced me to die in the most horrific and humiliating way conceived. I was merely a follower of the great Salazar Midus, but you couldn't handle that, could you pharaoh?" the dark man said with malice dripping from every word.

Yami gasped. The words the man spoke revived memories in Yami's mind. They brought back memories of his time as pharaoh. Yami looked into Amune-ra's eyes, but saw nothing that resembled any human emotion. "Who are you?" he asked.

Amune-ra stepped forward, into the light to face Yami. "I am a spirit, resurrected by my master, for the sole purpose of revenge against you. And now, I shall have that revenge. Prepare yourself for a fate worse than death!"

The man chanted an ancient incantation in and ancient Egyptian tongue and the shadows swept over him and Yami like a blanket. "A shadow game! I thought that only one with a Millennium Item could manipulate the shadows," Yami exclaimed as he looked around at the shadow dome.

"I was born of the very shadow magic that stems from the Millennium Items. Now, enough talk! It's time to duel!" Amune-ra said as he held up a Duel Disk-bearing arm.

(Yami: 8000) (Amune-ra: 8000)

"I'm just curious, since you are a 5,000 year-old spirit, how do you know of the game Duel Monsters?" Yami asked as he activated his Duel Disk.

"I know of the game in the very same way that you do," Amune-ra said as he drew five cards. "I simply inherited the memories of my host, ad they including this game. Now, since I issued the challenge, you decide who goes first."

"I'll be the one to go first," Yami said as he drew his six cards. "I'll set one card face down and a monster in defense mode. That ends my turn." The pharaoh decided to take it slow, since he was unsure of the strategy that the ancient spirit would employ.

Amune-ra snatched the top card from his deck and smirked as he looked at it. "You'll have to do much better than that, pharaoh. I'll place a monster in defense mode and two cards face down, and end my turn."

'He's hiding his strategy from me. I'll have to draw him out if I want to get anywhere in this duel.' Yami reached over and flipped his monster. "I'll flip my Retrained Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) into attack mode!" The face down hologram flipped up and a tall elf in an armored chest plate with a long cloak attached at the shoulders and a pointed green cap appeared on the field. His cloak fluttered slightly behind him as he stood in front of Yami. "Go, Retrained Celtic Guardian, attack his defense monster!"

The warrior unsheathed his long sword and charged forward, slashing at the face down hologram. The card flipped up and a tall woman, with the same dark complexion as Amune-ra, dressed in black robes, blocked the slash with a barrier of energy. "You attacked my Gravekeeper's Spy (1200/2000), which means you lose life points!"

(Yami: 7400) (Amune-ra: 8000)

"But that's not all, because when my Spy is flipped, I'm allowed to bring forth another monster from my deck with Gravekeeper's in its name with an attack of fifteen hundred or less. And I choose the Gravekeeper's Curse (800/500)!" Another monster appeared on the field, this time a shorter man dressed in similar robes and wielding a long hooked staff. "My Gravekeeper's Curse has a very special ability which allows it to do five hundred points of damage to my opponent when it is summoned. So go, Gravekeeper's Curse, activate your ability!"

The monster chanted an incantation and pointed his staff at Yami. A beam of energy launched at the duelist, striking him directly in the chest.

(Yami: 6900) (Amune-ra: 8000)

"So, pharaoh, tell me. Do you feel so high and mighty now?" Amune-ra taunted.

"That's enough. I will defeat you," Yami snapped as he recovered from the special ability of Amune-ra's monster.

"No, you won't," Amune-ra said as he drew. "Now I'll summon Gravekeeper's Cannonholder (1400/1200) in attack mode!" Another dark skinned, black robed monster materialized on the field. This one was kneeling and a large cannon sat atop its shoulder. "My new monster also has a special ability. I can sacrifice one of my Gravekeepers to do seven hundred points of damage to your life points. So go, Gravekeeper's Curse, become fodder for my Cannonholder so that he may unleash his power."

The shorter Curse glowed brightly with energy, until he became a glowing sphere. The sphere loaded itself into the Cannon and the Cannonholder fired the energy at Yami, knocking the duelist to the ground from the force.

(Yami: 6200) (Amune-ra: 8000)

Amune-ra smirked and folded his arms in front of his chest. "You're not off to a good start, pharaoh. I end my turn."

Yami recovered from the assault and drew. He looked at Amune-ra's side of the field. 'He left that weak monster in attack mode, which means that one of those face down cards is a trap to stop me from attacking it. I'd better play it safe.' "I'll switch Retrained Celtic Guardian to defense mode and end my turn." Yami watched as the elfin warrior kneeled down and crossed its sword over its chest.

"Fine. I'll sacrifice Gravekeeper's Spy to summon Gravekeeper's Chief (1900/1200) in attack mode," Amune-ra declared quickly after drawing. The Spy shattered and a tall dark skinned man appeared dressed in brilliant white and black robes, instead of just the black robes of his fellow monsters. He held a gold staff in his hand with a gold cobra at the end of it. "My chief, like all my other Gravekeeper's, has a very special ability. When he is summoned to the field, I can revive one Gravekeeper from my graveyard. And I choose Gravekeeper's Curse (800/500)!" The short, cloaked monster reappeared on the field. "And you know what that means. But in case you don't, Gravekeeper's Curse, remind him of your power!"

The Curse chanted and raised its staff again, firing a beam of energy that struck Yami directly and caused him to stumble back from the shock.

(Yami: 5700) (Amune-ra: 8000)

"Now, my Cannonholder, activate your…"

"Hold on!" Yami yelled, cutting Amune-ra off. He threw his hand out over a face down card and watched as it flipped up. "Reveal trap card, Shadow Balance!"

One of the card holograms flipped up and a large scale with a menacing face in the middle appeared on the field. Yami's Retrained Celtic Guardian appeared on one of the scale plates, and all of Amune-ra's monsters appeared on the other.

"What have you done?" the dark spirit bellowed as he looked at his monsters, stuck in the spiked scale plate.

"My Shadow Balance card makes the number of face up monsters on your side of the field equal to the number of face up monsters on my side of the field. And since I only have one, you can only have one. So choose."

"Fine. I choose my Gravekeeper's Chief." The Chief leaped down from the scale. The side of the scale with the Curse and Cannonholder became lower than the side with Retrained Celtic Guardian. The scale plate with Amune-ra's monsters folded in half, crushing the two into dust. "You'll pay for that. Go, Gravekeeper's Chief, attack the Retrained Celtic Guardian!" Amune-ra commanded. The monster pointed his staff at Yami's monster and fired a blast of energy. Yami smiled as the blast slammed into the elf and his monster remained unharmed. "What is going on? Are you trying to cheat me!" Amune-ra demanded in a fit of rage.

"I can assure you that this is not a cheat, but rather my monster's ability. Any monster with an attack of nineteen hundred or more can't destroy my Retrained Celtic Guardian. And since your Chief has nineteen hundred exactly, he won't be able to do it," Yami explained.

"That's fine. I have more than enough monsters in my deck that can handle that little problem. So I'll just place this card face down and end my turn."

Yami drew, then, smiled. "I'll activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards from my deck. Next, I'll sacrifice Retrained Celtic Guardian to summon my Gilfer Demon (2200/2500) in attack mode!" The elf disappeared in a blaze of flames and a large red and black demon rose out of the ground where it once stood, and spread its large, menacing wings. "Now, Gilfer Demon, attack the Gravekeeper's Chief with your mighty flame!"

The demon spat an intensely blazing fireball at the Chief, incinerating it with great ease and force.

(Yami: 5700) (Amune-ra: 7700)

"I'll end my turn," Atem said, reassured of victory. With his Gilfer Demon on the field, Yami knew that he had Amune-ra on the ropes.

Amune-ra snapped the top card off of his deck. The Gilfer Demon was powerful, but he was ready with some power of his own. "If you think that did something, you're sadly mistaken! For now I activate my face down card, Rite of Spirit! This card revives one monster with Gravekeeper's in its name from the card graveyard. And I choose the Gravekeeper's Chief!" Light chanting could be heard as Amune-ra's monster rose from a fissure in the ground. Yami looked on with interest. "Now I'll activate the spell card Terraforming! This card allows me to take one field spell card from my deck and add it to my hand."

Yami's interest turned to concern as Amune-ra went through his deck and added a card to his hand. His face twisted into a smile as he looked at the card, then, shoved it into the sliding field card tray at the side of his Duel Disk. "This is the card of your end. I play Necrovalley!"

Amune-ra placed the card in the hidden slot in the side of the Duel Disk and the entire scenery changed from the darkness of the Shadow Realm, to the burning sands of a desert valley. Pyramids in the background were turned into silhouettes by the ever-setting sun that seemed to hang in the sky. Amune-ra's Gravekeeper glowed with an eerie yellow color that seemed to match the color of the sky around the sun. "Now Gravekeeper's Chief, attack the Gilfer Demon!"

The monster raised its staff and fired another blast, shattering Gilfer, much to Yami's shock and confusion.

(Yami: 5500) (Amune-ra: 7700)

"Pharaoh, don't look so surprised. You should've known that Necrovalley carried with it a hidden power that only my Gravekeepers can access. As long as Necrovalley remains face up on the field, all my Gravekeepers gain five hundred attack and defense points. Plus, my card negates all cards that take any cards out of the graveyard, so whatever goes will stay gone."

"I will find a way to defeat you! I swear it!" Yami bellowed. He knew that the only way to defeat the dark spirit was to take out the Necrovalley, but he needed to find a card that could do the job.

Amune-ra chuckled with amusement at Yami's threat. "I doubt that. But let's see. My turn is over."

Yami drew and looked down at his Monster Reborn card, but realized that his draw was useless thanks to Necrovalley's effect. "I'll just place a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Amune-ra's smirk grew wider as he drew. He had a surprise in store for Yami. "I thought so. I'll summon the Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1500) in attack mode!" Another black robed monster appeared on the field. This one was carrying a long spear at his side, and glowed with the same yellow radiance as the Chief (2400/1700), boosting his attack points. "My Spear Soldier (2000/1500) can do life point damage to you, even if your monster is defense mode, so there's no defense for you. Now, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier, attack his defense monster!"

The monster charged forward and thrust his spear at the face down hologram. A long-haired warrior appeared behind a massive shield and deflected the blow easily. "You attacked my Big Shield Guardna (100/2600), whose defense is much higher than your monster's attack. So you know what happens," Yami said.

(Yami: 5500) (Amune-ra: 7100)

"That doesn't matter because your pathetic defense can't save you from the power of my vengeance forever," Amune-ra said.

Yami chuckled, then, drew. "Vengeance means nothing without power or skill. Your deck's flaw is blaringly obvious so let me get it out of the way. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! This card will destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I choose Necrovalley!"

A powerful twister formed on Yami's side of the field, and picked up strength as it raged towards the center of the field.

"You're so very naïve, aren't you? Activate Eternal Spell! This continuous trap card negates the effects of spell and trap cards that destroy spell or trap cards on the field. So you've failed."

The raging twister died, much to Amune-ra's delight at the pharaoh's failure. "That doesn't matter to me, because I've still got a trick left up my sleeve. I sacrifice Big Shield Guardna to play Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700) in attack mode!"

The warrior disappeared and a young female mage dressed in a loose-fitting blue sleeveless top adorned with a mage's jewel bearing a yellow pentagram in the center, and a short pink skirt, appeared with a smile and a wink. She flipped her long blonde hair under her tall pointed wizard's cap and floated down next to Yami. Amune-ra laughed. "Ha, your pathetic little girlfriend can't compare to my Gravekeepers!"

"Next, I'll activate Magician's Tome! This card's ancient magic will raise my Dark Magician's Girl's attack power by seven hundred points," Yami continued, ignoring Amune-ra's comment. A large book appeared in front of the Dark Magician girl and she began reading it. As she read, her body became wrapped in a green glow. "Now, Dark Magician Girl (2700/1700), attack the Gravekeeper's chief with Dark Burning Attack!"

The mage raised her staff and blasted the Gravekeeper into dust with a wave of magical energy.

(Yami: 5500) (Amune-ra: 6800)

"I'll end my turn," Yami said with satisfaction. Once again, the pharaoh had gained the upper hand on his opponent, and he intended to keep it that way.

Amune-ra glared at the Dark Magician Girl, then, drew. "Pharaoh, this is not the end. I will have my revenge for disgracing my master and I. You will suffer, this I swear."

Amune-ra prepared to play his next card, unaware that a spirit of the shadows was watching him and Yami, and plotting its next move.

* * *


	8. Victory Achieved! Return of a Friend

Here is, of course, episode eight to my sequel. Please read and review, no flames if you can help it.

**Episode 8: Victory Achieved - Return of a Friend**

"Pharaoh, I'm not done yet, so observe as I summon Gravekeeper's Assailant (1500/1500) in attack mode!" Amune-ra declared as he placed his card on his Duel Disk.

Another Gravekeeper appeared where the chief once stood. It's long black tunic came down to its ankles and a dark red veil coveredthe lower half of its face while a black hood covered the rest above his eyes. A crooked dagger resting in the monster's grip gleamed in the setting sunlight of the Necrovalley. "My monster gains the usual power bonus, so now I'll use Gravekeeper's Assailant (2000/2000) to attack the Dark Magician Girl. And I'll use his special effect."

The monster charged at the female spellcaster, who suddenly shifted her position. The Assailant's blade tore through her and destroyed the blonde mage. "Before you decide to ask a stupid question, my Assailant's ability allows it to change the battle position of any monster on your side of the field before it attacks. Count yourself lucky that she was in defense mode and you lost no life points," Amune-ra declared.

"No, I didn't lose any life points, but instead, I've gained life points, for you've activated my Tome's second effect, which boosts my life points by one thousand when it leaves the field," Yami explained. Yami knew that with his Dark Magician Girl gone, he had few options left, but the one thousand life points he gained were a good start, despite his lack of protection.

(Yami: 6500) (Amune-ra: 6800)

Amune-ra crossed his arms and chuckled to himself. "Those life points matter not, for now, I'll attack you directly with Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" The soldier charged forward and thrust its spear into Yami's chest, knocking him to the ground. "Before I end my turn, I must pay nine hundred life points for my Eternal Spell trap card to keep it on the field, which I shall do now."

(Yami: 3500) (Amune-ra: 5900)

Yami got to his feet and drew. He had drawn a way to get around Amune-ra's ever-growing army of Gravekeepers, but silently prayed in his mind that it would work. "I'll place one monster in defense mode and a card face down, then, end my turn."

"It would seem that you are cowering, pharaoh," Amune-ra declared with a smirk. "Well, I'll make this quick. I'll sacrifice my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier to summon another Chief in attack mode!" The monster disappeared and the robed leader of the Gravekeepers appeared in its place. "I'll use my Chief's effect to bring back the Spear Soldier I sacrificed in attack mode!" The spear wielding Gravekeeper reappeared on the field in a flash of light that contrasted against the artificial sunlight.

"I thought that you said Necrovalley negated any cards that revive other cards from the graveyard," Yami declared, surprise lacing every word.

"My Chief also has the ability to negate the effect of Necrovalley for my side of the field, so I can bring back whatever I please. And speaking of which, I'll activate another Rite of Spirit, and I'll use it to revive Gravekeeper's Curse (800/500) in defense mode!" The short Gravekeeper appeared again and received the same glow as the others. Amune-ra grinned as he gave the command. "And I'll activate the effect you seem so fond of. Gravekeeper's Curse, direct damage!"

The Curse struck Yami again with another blast of mystic energy, causing the spiky haired duelist to grasp at his chest from the shock.

(Yami: 4000) (Amune-ra: 6100)

"Now, my Spear Soldier, attack his defense monster!" Amune-ra bellowed before Yami could recover.

The monster rushed at the face down hologram and thrust its spear out at the monster. Yami held his hand out over a trap card, then, raised it high above his head. "Reveal Holy Barrier - Mirror Force! This card cancels out your attack and destroys all your attack position monsters!"

A large, reflective barrier appeared in front of the Spear Soldier, who slammed into the wall, causing it to shatter into pieces. The glowing holographic shards of glass flew at the other Gravekeepers. Amune-ra quickly hit the activation button on one of his traps.

"I'll activate my trap card, Curse of Anubis! It forces all effect monsters on the field into defense mode, canceling out your Mirror Force's effect of destroying my monsters." The shards of holographic glass passed through the Gravekeepers as they all switched to a kneeling position. "I've got a few tricks left as well. I'll pay another nine hundred and end my turn."

(Yami: 4000) (Amune-ra: 5000)

Yami drew with as much ferocity as he could muster. He knew that he had to get rid of Necrovalley somehow, and this was the turn to do it. He looked at the card he drew and grinned at Amune-ra. Not only could he get rid of Necrovalley, but he also had the perfect setup to claim victory.

"Alright. This is where the duel ends. Your Eternal Spell card has two flaws. The first is the payment, and the second is the effect itself. The effect only stops spell and trap cards from destroying other spell and trap cards, but it doesn't stop monsters. With that, allow me to introduce you to Breaker, the Magical Warrior (1600+300/1000)!"

Yami placed the card on the Duel Disk and a tall pale skinned knight in red armor with gold trim and a pointed helmet that covered the top half of his face rose from the darkness. His long red cloak fluttered slightly behind him as a jewel on his sword glowed. "My monster's special ability gives it a spell counter which raises its attack power by three hundred points."

Amune-ra looked at Yami's monster and laughed out loud. He knew that his vengeance was close at hand, but did not expect it to be this close. "Nineteen hundred attack points won't get you anywhere, pharaoh, especially not against my Gravekeeper army!"

"That's not why I summoned him. I summoned him in order to get rid of the counter, because that's what will bring you down. When Breaker loses his counter, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. And since it's a monster's effect, your Eternal Spell can't do anything to stop me." Amune-ra's confidence dropped like a stone in a river as he frantically looked over Eternal Spell's effect and, then, at the cards in his hand. He had nothing to stop Yami. "Now, Breaker. Remove your counter and destroy the Necrovalley!"

Spheres on Breaker's body glowed brightly, and enveloped the warrior in a brilliant light, which spread throughout the entire area, and engulfed everything in a white light. Amune-ra shielded his eyes from the light. When he looked back up, the sands of the desert Necrovalley had been replaced with the cold darkness of the Shadow Realm. His Gravekeepers lost their glow and their power.

"Now, I'll activate Monster Reborn, and revive the Dark Magician Girl!" The female mage reappeared with her usual effervescence. "Next, I'll play Sage's Stone, which can only be activated when Dark Magician Girl is on the field." The female mage pointed to herself in a 'who, me?' fashion as Yami continued. "This card allows me to automatically summon the Dark Magician from my hand or Deck. So come forth, my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

The Dark Magician Girl's green eyes lit up with excitement as the Sage's Stone appeared on the field and out of it leapt a tall mage clad in purple armor and a wizard's cap similar to Dark Magician Girl's. Amune-ra's concern grew slightly as Yami continued to summon more powerful monsters. "And now, for my next trick. I'll sacrifice Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl to summon the Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800)!"

The two spellcasters vanished in a blaze of magical energy that seemed to split the shadows themselves. A tall, bronze-skinned mage materialized on the field. His staff crackled with sparks of energy and the long cloak that hung from his deep black armor fluttered in the force of his power. The resurrected spirit breathed a sigh of relief. "Even with all the power of your new monster, you still can't take me down. I've got four defense monsters on the field and you've only got two face up monsters to attack with," Amune-ra spoke confidently.

"That's where this next card comes in," Yami retorted with a smirk. "I play Spiritual Transfer Stone! This spell card allows me to switch the effects of two monsters on the field. And I'll switch your Spear Soldier with my Sorcerer of Dark Magic."

The two monsters glowed brightly, and an energy sphere leapt from both of their bodies and into the other one. "So what? You get to do a little bit of damage to me. I'll still win in the end," Amune-ra declared as he folded his arms in a smug manner. "Do you see now that my vengeance is the greater power?"

"I'm not done yet. This final card is what will ensure my victory," Yami said as he placed the final card in the Duel Disk. "I play Diffusion Wave Motion!"

The Sorcerer of Dark Magic's staff vibrated with energy as the spell card surged throughout him, giving him new power.

(Yami: 3000) (Amune-ra: 5000)

"This card allows one of my level seven or higher spellcasters to attack every monster on your side of the field, at the cost of one thousand life points. And since all your monsters are in defense mode, my Sorcerer will do damage to you for all the monsters. So go, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, destroy all of his monsters and wipe out the rest of his life points!" Yami yelled. Amune-ra screamed out as Yami's monster raised its staff and unleashed waves of dark energy that sliced through each of his Gravekeepers.

(Yami: 3000) (Amune-ra: 0)

"I don't understand it. How did I lose?" the dark spirit asked.

"Do the math. My monster gained your Spear Soldier's ability to do damage to your life points when there are defense monsters on the field. Since all your monsters were in defense mode, and they no longer had the boost from Necrovalley, my monster's superior attack points were enough to finish the job." Amune-ra looked down at the ground, just in time to see the shadows creeping up on him, preparing to swallow him whole. "Wait a minute! Answer me! Who are you and who is your master?" Yami yelled, trying to get the man to talk.

Amune-ra looked up at Yami and simply laughed as the shadows engulfed him, then, disappeared; leaving Yami gazing at the man, limp on the ground.

What was that all about? Yugi asked from inside the Puzzle.

'I don't know. But something tells me that whoever his master is, he is the one behind the missing Millennium Items.' Yami stuck his hands in his pockets and walked back towards the city, unaware that he and Yugi were not traveling alone.

* * *

The spirit looked around at his surroundings. Doors were all over the place at the ends of staircases that ran up, down, diagonally, and upside down. He had made it out of that wretched place and was finally ready to plot his revenge. 

"Well, that wasn't easy, but I'm finally free. Now, I just need to find the pharaoh."

The spirit walked out into the halls of the Puzzle and looked around. He was definitely lost, but knew where he was going. "All I need to do is find his soul room. And then…then I can warn him about Seti Bakura. That freak is going to pay for trapping me in the Shadow Realm," Jason said.

He was lucky to have found his way to that place; otherwise he never would've seen Yugi duel that weird guy and make his way into the Puzzle. That kind of thing is easy when you're a disembodied spirit. He started to walk towards a door when a young man blocked his path. The man's long purple hair came down to his shoulders and his eyes were almost the same color as Yugi's deep shade of amethyst. He was dressed in an ancient Egyptian robe that came down to his knees.

"Excuse me, but you're in my way," Jason said calmly.

"And you're trespassing," the man said sternly.

Jason looked into the man's face and raised his fists, preparing to fight him. 'I don't know why, but I feel as if though I've met this guy somewhere before,' Jason thought as he clenched his fists tighter.

The man raised his hand and a long green staff flashed to life at his fingertips. His clothing glowed and changed into a long purple tunic under thick purple armor, and Jason immediately recognized him as the Dark Magician. He pointed the staff at Jason and fired a beam of energy, which the young duelist barely escaped.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jason yelled as he got up and ran. "Doesn't this guy have anything on his mind other than Duel Monsters!"

The mage chased after Jason, who was running as fast as he could, while dodging energy shots from the Dark Magician's staff. He quickly found out that the laws of gravity were not an issue as he found himself running on one of those upside down flights of stairs. He turned a corner and ran into a young girl, who was dressed the same as Dark Magician was at first.

"Hey, I'm sorry, but I've really got to run. I'm being chased by a Duel Monster, as crazy as that sounds." The girl stood up and brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face. She glared at Jason through narrowed green eyes before she, too, glowed like the Dark Magician. "No, no, no. There is just no freaking way," Jason exclaimed as he stood face to face with a clearly upset Dark Magician Girl.

She raised her staff and fired at Jason who managed to get away, save for a few hairs caught in the blast. He ran down the long hallway and towards a door…that he found locked. Jason turned around and saw the two mages, advancing on him with their staffs glowing with energy. He backed up against the door and breathed in ragged puffs; whether from fear or exhaustion remained a mystery as the blonde duelist stared down the two mages.

"This is just not how I wanted to die," Jason said as he shrank back against the door.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Jason fell in the room. He quickly got up and shut the door, just before the blasts fired. Jason leaned up against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief, letting his heartbeat return to normal.

"That was far too close for comfort. Now to find a safe way out of here."

Before he could think, an incredible force threw him up against a back wall and strangled him. Jason could feel his life force draining from his body as he struggled to breathe.

'Now how am I going to get out of this one?' Jason thought as his vision turned blurry.

He hung on the wall, thinking that this was it for him. He would die in the Puzzle.

* * *

And that's episode eight. The next one should be up soon, so be on the lookout for it. 


	9. Mystery Uncovered Nameless Pharaoh’s He...

**Episode 9: Mystery Uncovered - Nameless Pharaoh's Heritage**

Jason hung on the wall, gasping for air in the mysterious chamber that he ran into to escape death at the hands of the two Spellcasters. As he struggled, Jason spotted a glowing object out of the corner of his eye. It was the Millennium Puzzle. It highlighted Yami's face in an ominous golden glow; his eyes were a harsh, burning lilac, a mix of his natural amethyst and the glow from the Puzzle.

He took a few steps forward, then, spoke in a harsh tone. "What have you to say for yourself, intruder?" As he spoke, his magical grip on Jason's throat became tighter, threatening to crush his esophagus like a Styrofoam cup.

Jason gasped and strained as hard as he could, but managed to force words to tumble awkwardly through his constrained throat. "Yami, it's me…Jason!"

Jason heard a sharp gasp as Yami released his grip on the blonde's throat. The duelist slipped to the floor and coughed as he tried to take in the deep breaths of air that he'd been deprived of for about a minute or so. Yami snapped his fingers and candles illuminated the ancient stone room.

He ran over to Jason and bent down to slap the duelist on his back, forcing air through his windpipe. "Are you okay? I didn't know that it was you," Yami said apologetically as he continued his assault on Jason's back.

"It's okay, pharaoh," Jason responded through coughs. He looked at Yami and smirked, letting the pharaoh know that he would be okay. "But do us both a favor and get yourself a new hobby. I was almost killed by two Duel Monsters on the way here."

"So that was you they were chasing," Yami replied as he stood up straight. Jason got to his feet, and Yami stared at him for a moment, then, a look of shock came over the pharaoh's face. "Wait a minute! What are you doing in here exactly!" he shouted.

Jason held out his hands in an attempt to calm the pharaoh down. The last thing he needed to do was upset Yami. He had already experienced a sliver of the pharaoh's power. "Yami, believe me as I tell you, it's a long story. Yugi might want to hear this too."

* * *

Yugi sat on the edge of the bed, nervously tugging at the buckles at the end of his jacket sleeves. Yami said that there was something he needed to tell him later today, and from the sound of the pharaoh's voice, it was important, so Yugi sat and waited for him. 

Soon, Yugi heard faint footsteps in his room and turned around. Yami stood in front of his closet in his usual transparent form. "Oh, Yami. It's you. So, what was it that I needed to hear?"

Yami stood, trying to find the words to say. It wasn't easy telling Yugi that he might just have another spirit inside of him. "Maybe I should show you, instead. Come on out," Yami said, deciding that this would be the best way to do it.

The Millennium Puzzle glowed slightly and Jason appeared next to Yugi on the bed, in the same transparent state as Yami. Yugi looked over, and nearly leapt ten feet out of his skin. The boy fell over onto the floor and pointed at Jason with a shaking finger. "What is he doing in the Puzzle!"

Jason looked down at the floor in deep thought, trying to piece together the information in a way that Yugi could understand. "Yugi, things haven't exactly been good for me, or my body today. Tell me, have either you or Yami sensed anything funny today?"

Yami spoke up first. "Yes, I have. I felt a great disturbance in the energies of the Millennium Items earlier today." He folded his arms across his chest and looked out of the nearby window. "We went to check it out and decided to start with Kaiba."

"And it turns out that Kaiba lost the Millennium Rod in a duel," Yugi chimed in as he stood up and brushed himself off after the scare that Jason gave him.

Jason clenched his fists and punched the bed in frustration. Of course, he didn't make any noise since he was just a transparent spirit, but it still seemed to echo throughout the room. "Damn! He's working faster than I thought," Jason exclaimed as he began to calm down.

"Who's 'he'?" Yugi asked. The boy was afraid that some evil force was behind the disturbance and Kaiba's losing the Millennium Rod that he was given for safekeeping after Battle City.

"I'm afraid that 'he' would be Yami Bakura," Jason said with much regret in his voice. He felt somehow responsible for Yami Bakura's escape. He thought that he should have been able to do something more, since the soul stealer was in his body.

Yami and Yugi jumped back at the sound of that name. Yami Bakura was just one of several faces that neither of them wanted to see ever again. "That can't be! We saw the spirit of the Millennium Ring move on to another plane of existence with our own eyes," Yami exclaimed.

Jason shook his head visibly, then, looked down at the floor. "What you saw was only a trick. The real spirit is alive, well, and kicking around in my body."

"That would explain why Kaiba said that the one who beat him had the Ring, but looked different," Yugi said. Though it was only a start to solving the mystery of the disturbance, it was a good start. Now all they needed to figure out was why Yami Bakura needed the Rod.

"Yeah. He sent me to the Shadow Realm, but I remained connected to the Millennium Ring in order to survive. I moved throughout that miserable place until I spotted you in that duel with that guy. Since I was a spirit, you couldn't see me, so I jumped into the Millennium Puzzle and tried to warn you about the return of the Spirit of the Ring. You should really pay closer attention to the things around you. Anyone could get into your Puzzle, Yugi."

Yami looked down at the floor, grasping his Puzzle. Jason decided to tell him about the visions and the dream, to change the unpleasant subject that had come up. "Yami, how much do you remember about your past?"

"Only a few bits and pieces," the pharaoh answered quickly. "Ever since Battle City, everything has been falling into place. But I'm still unsure of my entire past."

"Well, Yami. I've got good news and I've got bad news." Jason took a deep breath and prepared to give Yami the information he had. "The bad news is that your past is what started this whole thing with Yami Bakura. The good news is that I have some information that might help you a lot."

Yami looked up at Jason, like a child looking to an adult for candy. Yugi looked at both of them, excited to hear what Jason had to say. "Yami, your real name is Atem. Pharaoh Atem."

Yami's eyes widened at the information. He walked to the window and looked out as if he were looking at a new world. He could feel doors opening and unlocking in his mind and Puzzle as he whispered his name to himself. "Atem. I am pharaoh Atem. Finally, I have a hard link to the past which can help me get back to where I belong."

"I'd hate to break up this good feelings extravaganza, but there is, again, some bad news about your past," Jason said, snapping the Pharaoh out of his euphoria.

Atem looked over at him, his face becoming serious again. "I'm afraid this next piece of news has to do with your father, Pharaoh Akunumkanon, and your uncle, Akunadin."

Atem's heart skipped several beats at these words. Yugi sat on the floor in utter shock at the information that Jason was speaking. Jason continued.

"Yami Bakura's real name is Seti Bakura. He came from a village called Kuruelna that existed in ancient Egypt. In order to create the Millennium Items, your father sent Akunadin to the village to gather people for a ritual. Unfortunately, your father didn't realize that the ritual involved the slaughter of ninety nine innocents, including Seti Bakura's family. Seti escaped, but swore his revenge on the pharaoh who condemned his people to death. When Akunumkanon passed away and you took the throne, Seti focused his efforts on you, trying to bring you down. You don't see it Atem, but he hates you more than anything in this world or the next."

Atem sank to his knees, and looked down at the Puzzle; his face was a mix of pain, confusion, and anger. "My Millennium Item…was created by the blood of innocents?"

Jason stared at Atem and Yugi for a few seconds, then, spoke uncomfortably. "Atem, if this is all too much for you to handle, I understand. I'll just retreat into the Puzzle and…"

"No. I wish to hear the rest," Atem said quickly, steeling himself for the next part of the story.

"As you wish, pharaoh," Jason started. "After the Items were created, Seti Bakura trained under a man named Salazar Midus in the dark arts. Does that name ring any bells to either of you?"

Atem thought for a moment, then, shook his head. Yugi placed his finger on his chin in thought, then, spoke up. "I know that name. I heard about him in history class. He was a wizard of some kind, who was sentenced to death by a pharaoh of Egypt."

"That pharaoh was you, Atem," Jason said. "He was caught by the royal court and tried. You found him guilty and sentenced him and his thirteen priests to death by being mummified alive. After that, Seti Bakura's hatred of you came to its apex. He vowed to one day claim all of the Millennium Items for himself and use their power to destroy you and your entire legacy. Whatever happened from there is a mystery to me. Up until the time my ancestor sealed him in the Ring."

"Jason, how do you know all of this?" Yugi asked, drastically changing the flow of the conversation. Something about Jason's knowledge of all these events seemed extremely suspect.

The blonde picked up on the feelings of the boy and tried his best to sound sincere. "Most of it came from snooping around in Bakura's head and his memories. The other half came from a dream that I had." When Jason was sure that he had Yugi's trust, he decided to change the subject again. "So, why don't you fill me in on some things. Who was that guy that you were dueling?"

"I don't know," Atem answered. "All I know is that his name was Amune-ra, and he was an ancient spirit resurrected by very powerful magic."

"Then Seti has found the book I take it," Jason said as he shifted his transparent form uneasily on the bed.

Jason's statement obviously threw Atem and Yugi off their balance. They looked at him deeply, questioning him with their eyes. "What book are you talking about?" Atem asked, voicing the silent question.

"I'm talking about the magic tome of Salazar Midus. I just barely managed to catch a glimpse of it in Seti's memory before he sent me to the Shadow Realm," Jason answered. "I'm afraid that it contains powerful magic, but I don't know what he plans on doing with it." Jason thought for a second before snapping his fingers, as if though something struck him. "Wait, did you say that the man's name was Amune-ra?"

Atem nodded, and Jason looked down, a worried expression crossing his translucent countenance. "I'm afraid that's not the last you've heard of an ancient Egyptian spirit. He was one of the priests of Salazar Midus that you sentenced to death. And if I know Seti Bakura, there's twelve more where he came from, no doubt resurrected by the power of the book."

Atem turned around and stared out the window blankly. Yugi stood up and walked over to him. He knew that the pharaoh was going through a lot at this moment, so he decided to talk to his partner and try to figure out a way to help him. "Are you okay? That was some pretty shocking stuff that Jason said."

The pharaoh sighed deeply and leaned on the windowsill. "I'll be fine. It's just overwhelming that I now have an identity, instead of my nickname, or just being known as mou hitori no Yugi, the nameless pharaoh." Atem stood straight up again and looked down at Yugi. "But what I'd really like to know is will you be okay?"

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, looking his partner deep in the eyes. Atem's expression of deep concern was starting to worry Yugi, who rarely ever saw the pharaoh with a nervous look in his confidence-laden eyes.

Atem took a deep breath and looked back out the window to avoid the gaze of his young partner. "It's my fault you're in this situation. Your life and soul are in danger because of me, and my father, and I'll have no part in putting you in danger."

Yugi shook his head and moved closer to Atem. "I'm the one who put the Puzzle together again, so that means that no matter what I'm the one who's going to stick by you through thick and thin," the boy declared.

Jason got up off of the bed and walked over to the two duelists. "Yeah, he's right. And I'm here, too. I won't lose a friend because some power-tripping freak wants revenge. You can count me in on this."

"But Jason, you don't have a body. What are you going to do?" Yugi asked as he shifted his gaze to the blonde standing above him.

Jason sighed and looked out the window at the people passing by, unsuspecting of the coming events. "Don't worry about me, guys. I'm sure I'll think of something."

* * *

Ryou hung nervously from the wall. Seti had walked into the next room and left him there for a few minutes. However, Seti came back in, just as Ryou tried to think of a way to escape.The dark spiritlooked up at him with a look of amusement, which deeply concerned Ryou, because he knew what amused Seti. "Are you comfortable up there? If you are, you won't be up there for long. And if you aren't comfortable, then you still won't be up there for long." 

Seti laughed and walked over to Ryou. He picked up the Millennium Ring and held it up, pointing it at Ryou's head. "Wait, what are you doing with that?" Ryou asked fearfully. He would've been shaking violently if all his muscles weren't paralyzed by the spell Seti put on him.

The dark spirit smiled with a deep, twisted malice, and held the Rind closer to Ryou's head. "I'm going to use you for a little task," Seti said, letting that same malice slip into his voice.

He focused his energies on the Ring and grabbed hold of Ryou's mind. Ryou screamed out and tried to fight, but it was of no use. Darkness seeped in all around him and he felt himself fall down a long precipice. He could feel control of his body slipping. But he wasn't going to the Shadow Realm. This was something else. Something far worse, he feared.

* * *


End file.
